Tryst
by DesertAnubis
Summary: Trys is a normal girl, not very popular. Yami is a street kid, living out of trash cans. Normal, maybe. Or does Yami have something to hide? PharaohxTrys
1. Tryst p1

Introduction

For those of you who don't know me or my stories, I write the "What Ifs" that make my story different than the actual story before I start writing, so you have an idea of what I'm planning (though it's mostly so I keep track of it... D: ). I love reviews, though I know some people have difficulty writing them. Please, if you can, write a review and tell me what you think!

Also, so you know, I run into writer's block rather frequently, but less often if people are bugging me to write to the end. If I hit writer's block, and you want me to finish the story, just tell me. ;)

I try to stay up-to-date, but since a lot of the stories I write are based off works in progress, it may go out of date. I apologize. If I like it enough, or you guys like it enough, I'll rewrite it.

This is a Yugioh fanfiction. I do not own Yugioh or anything thereof: this is being written simply for fun.

What If...

What if Atem couldn't escape the evils who fought him in the past and sealed them inside his memories?

What if he had to erase his memories to try to prevent them from escaping again?

What if people have inner monsters that, if injured, curse the person?

What if the doorway to the Afterlife only opens once every five thousand years? (I can't remember if this is true or not... I got it stuck in my head, anyway...)

Okay, I think that's it for the What Ifs for this particular fiction. Hope you like :P

BY THE WAY...

This story was finished before I posted it. ^^

Table of Contents

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

1

Blood Fever

7

Christmas and Memories

13

The True Past

18

The Cursed Past

25

Ka-Style Healing

28

Five Thousand Years

32

Moving In

38

Moving On

41

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Trys glanced around, then sighed and walked to the edge of the field. It wasn't near either end, but it wasn't somewhere anyone would look anyway. It was a bench, where she could put her stuff next to her. She set down her clipboard, which opened up to hold blank paper for her to draw on, and her mechanical pencil.

She sat down, holding her head in her hands. With everyone making fun of her, she couldn't stand being in the crowd.

"Hey." She looked up, then around, trying to see where that voice had come from. "You, I'm over here." The voice continued, slightly amused.

She looked behind her. A boy about her age was standing behind the fence.

She wasn't sure if she was glad there was a fence there. He raised his arms, grabbing it, and lifted one foot and leaped over the fence to land in front of the bench next to her. He wore clothes that made her think of some kind of Goth punk sort of guy, even if he hadn't dyed his hair or anything.

She got up, unsure.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" He asked, gesturing at the other side of the bench.

She shook her head, not sure if she could trust herself to talk. He sat down anyway and leaned back, folding his arms and crossing one leg over the other. She sat down carefully back where she was, picking up her clipboard. Slowly, though, she was able to relax, and opened her clipboard to pull out a piece of paper and her pencil, and started to sketch.

The next day, she came back. He was already there this time. She didn't want to insult him, and she knew he had already seen her coming. So she sat down, going back to her drawing. She looked up at him, and it took only seconds for him to turn. "What is it? Should I leave?"

She shrugged. "Well… why do you come here? You don't go to this school… shouldn't you be at some other one?"

He arched one eyebrow. "Why do _you_ come here, instead of playing with the others?"

She looked down. "No one likes me. I'm a nobody. But I go to school here. Who are you, anyway?"

"Yami." His mouth twitched in a smile. "A nobody. And I don't go to school. I live on the streets, and it seems like you have to fight for every breath out there. I come here for a little break, after I scrounged up a lunch." He seemed amused at her expression of disgust. "This time it was better than normal." He barely hid his grin as he said, "Week-old fried chicken." She covered her mouth, looking away.

_If that's good… I'm surprised he isn't dead from whatever he eats. Gross._ "Well… maybe tomorrow I can bring something a little better than that."

He stared at her for a long moment. "You mean… you'd… but you don't even know me!"

"Yeah, but I know that no one, not even you, can survive on week-old chicken all the time. You should have some proper food at least once in a while."

He seemed to have lost his composure, and looked away. "I get 'proper food'. And you might get in trouble."

"I don't care. The most they can do is put me in detention for getting two meals. But if I gave you the lunch my parents make for me, and have the cafeteria meal, then you'll get good food too."

He shrugged.

"By the way, my name's Trys."


	2. Tryst p2

Every day, now, she would eat cafeteria food, then take her lunch to Yami at the bench, and as he ate, she would sketch. In her drawings, she depicted herself as a Different Dimension Dragon, often in space, a place where chunks of grass and rock were floating above a black hole sucking small light motes, seriously off-scale versions of stars.

"Do you like it?"

"What's that place? How is it possible?" He asked curiously.

"Well, it doesn't exist, so it's not supposed to make sense." She shrugged. "It's in my imagination. But it's the world that the Different Dimension Dragon lives when it gets killed in a duel, and it goes into the black hole when it comes back to the duel."

"Oh."

He seemed so interested that she asked, "What's your favorite monster? I could draw it."

"I think Dark Magician seems cool. I don't know enough about Duel Monsters to know, but Dark Magician looks good."

"He's one of the strongest Duel Monsters, and word is he's Yugi's favorite card."

"Yugi…" Yami shrugged. "Can you draw Dark Magician?"

"Easy." Minutes later the Dark Magician stood next to the Different Dimension Dragon, floating over the black hole in her special world. "See?"

"Nice." He took it, smiling. "It's great, Trys."

***

Eventually, she got a group of friends, and they were the best. Yami noticed, though, that she stopped coming to the bench longer than to give him lunch, and even then, she would do it very quick before recess really started, then dash off to join her friends.

He didn't mind too much. He preferred to be alone anyway. He just watched from afar, as she came less and less. Then once, she forgot totally about lunch, and as soon as he saw her come out with her friends, no lunch possibly near, he leapt back over the fence. He had been expecting this for some time now.

"So, word is Cassie likes Jake, and Jake likes Cassie."

"Really? Wow! I didn't think so. Man, they never seem to hang out with each other."

"Well, Alisa told me, and she heard it right from Cassie herself."

"I didn't think he would. She's so… backward."

Trys glanced over at the bench to see Yami leave, and stumbled, missing a step and a heartbeat. Seeing him leave reminded her that she had forgotten to get lunch for him. May grabbed her arm before she fell. "Watch it there, Trys. You okay? You don't look so good."

She felt sick with betrayal. _Yami… I'm so sorry…_ She clutched her arms, swaying on the spot. "Oh no…"

"What is it?" Katlyn asked, turning back.

"What's wrong, Trys?" Jess stopped behind them.

"You okay?" May asked again.

Trys shook her head. "I was so stupid… I just forgot…" She couldn't tell them. She shook her head again and scrambled back. "I'd better go to the nurse. See ya later." And she ran.

"Okay! Meet us at my locker! Remember, A213!"

"You have a top locker?"

"Yeah. You've been to it."

"Oh. Oh yeah, it's the one with all those pictures of Drew, isn't it?"

"Cut it out."

Trys wasn't listening. She had no intention of going to the nurse. She slammed the code into her locker twice before wrenching it open and snatching up the lunch. _Fool! FOOL! You promised you'd get lunch for him all the time. Big fat liar._ She sprinted out of the building out of sight of anyone and scrambled over the fence. Sure, it hadn't been very dignified, but she deserved to be ridiculed for her stupidity, for her betrayal. She half climbed down the other side, to lose her grip and fall with a loud thud on the ground. She winced as she got up, groaning, but spent only a second checking herself before she started off into the alleys.

Yami was grubbing around in the trash can of one of the better restaurants, the kind that threw away anything, even if it hadn't been touched, sometimes even if it was still in some sort of wrapper. He stopped, hearing something, and looked up. No one was there, so he dismissed it after a moment.

He had the barrel on its side, and was crouched in front of it. He picked up one of the aluminum foil wrappers to find a chicken leg that hadn't been touched. It was even still a little warm.

He dug in voraciously, as he usually would have had lunch by then, whether it was from her or not. He stopped a second time, lifting his head and listening. Someone was stalking him.

Swiftly, he scooped up what he had found, and slid back into the shadows. A gang took over where he had left off.

He slid away, searching for more. Someone had thrown out a couple of okay bananas, so he took them and squatted there, chewing thoughtfully. It took him a moment to realize the owner of that specific trash can was watching.

He stood hastily and left, with her shouts of fury behind him. He fled deeper into the alleys and passages, wondering if he should go back to the school. There, he knew no one would bother him while he ate, but he wasn't sure he wanted to see Trys at that moment, chatting with her friends, Yami completely forgotten.


	3. Tryst p3

Trys ran into the gang minutes later, and decided that was not where she wanted to be. They turned, and she ran, terrified.

Yami was passing an alley away when he heard the gang all jeering at some new victim of theirs. "What'cha got there, sweetie?"

He was about to dismiss it, when he heard her frightened reply. "St-stay away!"

_Trys?_ He turned back, thinking. _What's she doing here?_

"Looks like a lunch. And you've got a pretty look, too." The leader, Jeremy, said with dangerous amusement.

Trys was pressed against a wall, having been pinned by their greater knowledge of the alleys, now blocked on three sides by the gang. She looked around desperately, then back at Jeremy, who was starting forward. She tensed, waiting.

Yami started forward, curious. At the corner he hesitated one more moment, then looked around it to see Trys slap Jeremy on the cheek. There were titters from more than just Yami at that, and Trys managed a terrified grin. "You've got a lot of spunk…" Jeremy growled, no longer amused, rubbing his cheek. "I'll give you that. But you're going to pay for slapping me, sweetie."

"Don't call me sweetie!" She snapped, pushing him back.

He stumbled more in shock than her strength, that anyone could push him at all, much less a chick like her, obviously terrified of him.

At least, a moment ago.

He snarled and leaped at her. She dropped, curling up on the ground, shutting her eyes in anticipation. _Well, it's not like you didn't deserve it, Deserter, Betrayer, Oath-Breaker!_

Yami, though, had seen enough. Just before Jeremy got her, Yami had grabbed his arm and whipped him back. "Get off her!" He shouted, giving Jeremy an almighty shove, and he went skidding across the alley. The rest of the gang eyed him warily, and Trys looked up.

_Now's not the time for apologies._ Yami's eyes told her instantly, and her own eyes lit up in recognition of his silent statement. He turned back to the gang. "Jeremy, let us go our way. She didn't know she was trespassing on your turf."

"You did, though."

"I was looking for her." He replied instantly. "And we'll leave."

"Pay, first."

Yami nodded and reached inside his pocket, pulling out a small gold earring. "This." He tossed it over, and Jeremy caught it, examining it. He nodded.

"And for the girl?"

Yami hesitated, then searched his pockets for a minute, letting the suspense rise a little, and Trys got up slowly. Yami had to cut it short then, knowing she might start thinking about giving something of her own, and drew out a long gold chain. "Here." He handed it over as reluctantly as he could muster.

Trys, noticing, said, "I can pay for myself." She reached into her pocket.

Yami winced. _Trys… please don't…_ But Jeremy already had the chain in one hand, eyeing her curiously.

"Go on, what you got?"

She searched for a moment, then pulled out a silver wrist-chain, tossed it up deftly, then held it out.

Jeremy made to take it, but she snatched it back. "Yeah, I'd just hand it over." She snorted. "You said he was paid, so give him his chain back, and I'll pay you."

Jeremy grinned and tossed it back. "Right. Now, gimme that."

She nodded and held it out again. "'k, how is that?"

He examined it, then nodded. "Right, get on outta my turf."

Yami grabbed her wrist, dragging her away. His face was probably the only reason Jeremy didn't ask for more. The expression on Yami's face had been good enough, like a thundercloud. The gang sniggered behind them as they left.

Trys bore it stolidly, knowing she probably deserved it. As soon as she had offered to pay for herself, she knew she had made a mistake. And she had been in his world that time, so she should have let him take the lead. Once they were well away, he tossed her against the wall of another house and strode back and forth furiously, as though he'd rather keep going without her. It was a while before he could speak.

"Why, _why_ didn't you let me handle it? You'd gotten yourself into enough trouble, but no, you had to ask for more! And I know you knew what you should have done, so _why_ didn't you listen to your own head for once?"

She bowed her head in silent acceptance.

"I could have done easily without that chain, you know. And I know how to deal with them! Why, Trys? Why are you even out here, and not in school, where it's so much safer for someone like you?"

She shook her head. "I should have. I'm sorry, Yami, and I know it isn't enough to be sorry. I just… I got caught up in my friends so much that I forgot you." She clutched it, sounding bitter. "I didn't think it was as dangerous as you said it was to be out here. I tried to bring you lunch."

Yami stopped, staring at her, unable to quite take it in. _Lunch?! All that for _lunch_?! Is she insane?_

"I was stupid. I didn't think." She reached down beside her and lifted the lunch box. "You might as well have it." She said sourly, getting up, but not meeting his eyes. "I'd better get back to school. That's all I'm good at anyway."

Yami grabbed her arm again, stopping her. "Maybe, but… thanks. Still, if you plan on visiting me, make sure you tell me beforehand."

She looked up at him, then realized he was joking slightly, the first time she'd ever heard him jest about anything, however little. She managed a small smile.

He glanced around, then chuckled. "You'd have a job finding your way back without a guide." He took the lunch box, and was already halfway through the sandwich within seconds, and starting on the apple as they turned the corner.

"Someone's hungry." She commented as she followed him.


	4. Tryst p4

Back at the fence, he leaped to the top, helped her up, then lowered her carefully to the other side. She smiled up at him, and he dropped down next to her. "You should see the nurse. Either they did a little more to you before I came, or you had a lot of trouble with the fence and standing upright in my world."

She grinned ruefully. "Second, I'd have to admit. I wanted to get you your lunch so much I wasn't watching where I was going."

"I'll come with you. Make sure you don't trip again."

"I think I can handle my world, actually. But you can come if you want."

He followed her, staring around. It was all so familiar, yet alien. He had studied it many times from the outside, but suddenly he was in the building, walking through the halls.

Classes rumbled, marking the fact that recess was over already. "Huh. I didn't know we'd taken that long." Trys muttered. "I'd better drop my lunchbox off first, or she'll ask some awkward questions."

"I'll take it." Yami offered.

"Okay. My locker's down that way, first hall to your right, and mine's A157. The code's this; swirl it a few times counterclockwise to refresh it (it doesn't matter what number you're on), then go clockwise until you reach ten…" She leaned closer to give the rest. "Then counterclockwise again to twenty-two, but pass it the first time, okay? Then go clockwise to eighteen."

"Er… clockwise?"

"Oh. That's when the top goes right. Top goes left when it's the other way, counterclockwise."

He nodded.

"And the nurse's office is down this way, left, then left again through her door. Might want to knock first anyway."

He nodded again and left.

At the locker, he stopped, remembering her instructions. _How many times is a few?_ He shrugged and started turning it. Then he stopped and twisted it the other way, watching for the ten, then switched directions again. _Have to pass it the first time…_

When he hit eighteen, he opened the locker, and nearly dropped the lunchbox in shock. It was _small_. Where was he supposed to put the lunchbox when there was no room whatsoever? Her books were squashed, and her binders seemed as thin as paper, all pressed together in there.

He sighed and started shifting things around. _Well, if she doesn't mind me clearing space, great. If she does…_

_Oh well. She told me to put the lunchbox in her locker, and I assume I can't just stick it on the floor, so…_

When he shifted her folder, one of the papers slid out. He opened the folder to push it back in without crumpling it, to find that it was a drawing. She had drawn him… He was sitting on the bench, relaxed, in his usual pose; arms folded and one leg over the other, looking down. She was sitting next to him, head between her shoulders, shyly watching, with a couple of hearts over her…

He stuffed it back in and shoved the folder into the locker hastily as the bell rang, signaling the end of class. There was a mass exodus of the rooms, all of whom seemed to stop at the sight of him in her locker. He remained as calm as he could on the outside, though inside he felt suddenly trapped, and deliberately slowly he put the binders and books back.

Chatter died away from those behind as they tried to see what the holdup was. A murmur echoed through the crowd as he picked up the lunchbox and put it in carefully next to a binder and slowly closed the locker, twisting the dial to mess up the combination so no one else could pry.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in Trys's locker?" One of the girls managed finally. Jess, if he remembered right.

Yami looked around at the crowd. His eyes were dark and calculating, watchful and wary, like a hunted animal. _What am I supposed to do?_ He thought desperately, feeling panicky. But if he had learned anything on the streets, it was to keep a level head, no matter the situation. _Take deep breaths. It's not like you could do anything about it anyway._

He relaxed slowly. "I was returning something of hers. She's at the nurse's office, and asked me to return it to her locker."

"Why's she at the nurse's office?" Jess asked keenly.

Yami hesitated again, giving the silent crowd another wary look. "She'll tell you if she wants to." He said evasively, starting to edge down the hall to the nurse's office. Nearly everyone in the school was there now, and some of the teachers were starting to wonder why there wasn't more noise out.

"What's the holdup? Keep moving! Who are you?" A teacher demanded suddenly behind Jess, seeing Yami, where his clothes greatly contrasted with the students' uniforms.

He took another deep breath, then shot down the hall, ducking through everyone as he tried to make for Trys or home or anywhere he wasn't trapped. "Stop him!" Several voices shouted. "Get that kid!"

_I really blew it, didn't I? Just like she did._

He couldn't help chuckling at the irony, even though he did it silently. He did, however, bear a pained expression of amusement on his face as he darted out of the reaching hands of the crowd.

"Stop that kid!"

"He's trying to get to the nurse! Trys is there!" Jess yelled desperately at the teachers.

"Get that kid!"

"Someone get him!"

"Cut him off!"

"Don't let him get away!"

"TRYS!" He bellowed, throwing himself pell-mell down the hall. "TRYS, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"


	5. Tryst p5

"Yami!" Trys gave a start, jerking her hand out of the nurse's grip. "Sorry, Nurse. I gotta go! I'll be right back."

"Sit down!" Nurse Penny grabbed her arm firmly and sat her back down. "You're not going anywhere until I finish with this. You've had enough excitement to be running around like that!"

"But Nurse–"

"No buts. You're going to sit here and wait until I'm done."

Yami darted down the hall, glancing around, then skidded to a stop. _Where is that cursed nurse's OFFICE already?_ He whimpered inwardly. He felt very lost.

"Trys?" He called again, but the people behind him were closing in. He took another look at the fork, then groaned and shot down the right-hand one. _This had better be the right way…_ He thought desperately.

"_Please_, Nurse! I promise I'll be right back, but _please_!"

"No. You'll wait right there, young lady, and we'll have no more of your nonsense."

Yami stopped again, thinking hard. _Okay, she said left and left again through the door… Oh man, I hope she's still there._ He looked back, then ducked swiftly as someone tried to grab him. "Missed!" He yelled, and ran down the hall. Almost immediately he turned and burst through the door, staring around wildly for Trys, who jerked again and looked up.

"Yami!" She said delightedly, trying to rise again. "Are you okay?"

"Sit _down_! And that young man had better get out of here now. You're not welcome anyway." Nurse Penny growled, dragging Trys back down into the seat.

Yami just slid onto the floor next to her. "Looks like we're even, Trys." He mumbled.

"What do you mean? Are you okay?"

Several people burst through the door. Seeing Yami on the floor, they grabbed him and dragged him upright. He struggled, wriggling right out of their grasp, but he was getting tired, and stumbled back. "Trys…" He gasped as he stumbled into the bed. "Help…"

"Nurse, please, let me go! I promise I'll be right back!" Trys tried yet again to get up.

"You're not going anywhere. And it's good of them to take him away, great filthy thing."

Yami slid off the bed onto the floor, sighing with exhaustion.

"Yami!" Trys tried helplessly to stop the others as they grabbed him. "Yami, it'll be okay! Just–"

But suddenly he was out in the hall again, held between two of them, the rest bunched warily around should he try to break free.

"Now, what are you doing here? And why are you trying to see Trys? You don't belong to this school. You're trespassing."

He had a feeling they weren't going to accept baubles for his freedom. So he decided to go with the truth, or at least, semi-mostly-well-very-close-for-the-truth kind of truth. "I found her in the alleys away that way." He waved his hand vaguely in the direction of Jeremy's turf as well as he could, as his arms were being held by the other students. "She was cut up bad, so I helped her get back. No, I don't go to this school."

"You should go back to your school. And I'm going to contact your parents about your behavior; skipping class and wandering around the alleys, then lying about one of our students. What's your name?"

Yami had a fit of laughter, and barely managed to keep it under control. "School? Parents? Skipping class? Lying?" He had to hug his stomach he was laughing so hard. "Sessho will get a kick out of that."

"Who's Sessho? And what do you find so funny?"

Yami managed to straighten. "Sorry. Sessho is a friend of mine. And the joke's all mine anyway."

"What's your name?" He demanded again.

Yami snorted. He had gotten his breath back, and he was certain he could duck through the crowd again. He shrugged off the ones holding him and darted backwards. "See ya later, Trys." With a quick shot, he dived back out and away through the crowd again. "I don't have a school, so I can't skip class! I don't have parents at all, much less any who'd care! And if you don't believe me, ask Trys." He ducked down another hall, to find it blocked with students. He stopped dead.

"No parents, no home, nothing? Then you should face the court, or at least go to an orphanage where someone can adopt you and teach you manners." Jess snapped at him.

He turned back, smiling pityingly. "Ah, but 'What's the fun of being cooped up in school all day, learning about dead people, numbers, and words you can't understand?'" He quoted her.

She bristled. "Watch it, punk!" She growled, trying to shove away the fear at the fact that he knew what she had said.

He snorted. "Those were your own words. Eat them if you really want me to go to an orphanage, give up the life I love, and throw away everything _I've_ learned just so someone else can order me around." He turned and tapped the window. "Solid enough." He chuckled as they closed in. "I'm free. And you can't stop me." He threw himself backwards through the window, breaking through and laughing as he rolled across the ground.

"Hey! You misused public property!"

"Someone call 9-1-1!"

"Don't bother. He's too far away now."

Yami leaped over the fence, grinning, and faded into the shadows. The teachers drew back, conversing fervently among themselves. "We should have police patrol the area until he's caught. We can't risk endangering the students anymore with him running around. I'm surprised he hasn't been caught yet."

"If he was speaking the truth about this Sessho, then he has to be caught too and put to justice for leading him astray. He seemed nice enough, if he was a little arrogant."

"Well, we'll talk with the mayor about this."


	6. Tryst p6

Trys was called to be questioned several times before they finally let her go. But she couldn't stop thinking about Yami. _They're going to bring police! Yami… please… don't try to come…_

He was, however, waiting for her as she left school.

"Yami!" She exclaimed. He nodded. Though he didn't seem to care who was around, he certainly knew where everyone was. "What are you doing here? You could get caught!"

"If that was true, then nowhere I go will be safe." He stepped forward, taking her hand. "But you would have tried to contact me, and that would have put you in danger as well. Here." He handed her the chain. "Sessho is a lot closer to you than you could guess. All you have to do is talk about me, and he'll show up." He turned away and stopped short. Someone had been standing right behind him, and he hadn't even known it. "Sessho!"

He stumbled back, but Sessho had a firm grip on his arm. "Yami, honestly." He shook his head pityingly and dragged him across the street and down an alley. Yami waved at her as he left, grinning ruefully and shrugging.

Trys chewed her lip to hide her smile. _Yami… I hope he knocks some sense into you._

As soon as they were out of sight, Sessho slammed Yami against the wall and held a finger under his nose. "You idiot. You've got us all in trouble now, Yami. Because of you, they're calling the police to search the area. We'll be forced out of our territory for weeks or more until they are satisfied with all their lording it over us."

Yami bowed his head, sighing. "I never thought it would happen. Not the police thing, but the reason I went. It's…" He looked away. "Blood Fever."

Sessho hesitated, staring at him. "Blood Fever? You? I'm surprised, Yami. That girl, huh? Well, try not to risk everything for her again, okay, Yami? We'd better get moving if we want to warn the folks here about what just happened."

"Right." They left.

***

Trys glared at the police every time she saw one. When Jess finally asked why, she exploded, "He was just trying to help! He wanted to help me get back, and he wouldn't have done anything to hurt me or anyone else, and just because he lives the way he lives they want to arrest him!"

"Why were you out, anyway, Trys?"

"Do you like him, is that what you're saying?"

"He _is_ kinda cute…"

Trys glared at Katlyn, who had said the last statement, but didn't say anything, just looked away. "I lost my brother a while back, remember?" She said finally. "That day was his birthday. I ran, because I'd forgotten him." She lied. It hurt so much to lie so easily. But for Yami's sake, she would lie to her dad without any remorse.

"Oh. But why into the alleys?"

She shook her head. "I don't know why I went there. But next thing I knew, I was in trouble, and he helped me." She felt tears brimming in her eyes, and shut them furiously. "And now they're trying to arrest him! It's not fair!"

"Well, we can't do anything about it, Trys, and besides, how do you know what he's really like? He could be bad, and need to face justice anyway." Jess said quietly.

"I bet someone like him is no stranger to stealing." Katlyn cajoled.

Trys looked up at them. She knew right off telling them she knew Yami from a while back would be a mistake. She couldn't trust them anymore. They sounded like they wanted to get rid of him too. So she shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But he didn't seem like that."

"So? Besides, there are a lot of boys out there who'd do anything for you, and he doesn't have anything."

Trys nodded.

Yami was sitting whittling a sliver of wood with a rusty pocketknife he found when he heard someone coming and rolled into the shadows. It was a policeman, on patrol. Yami shook his head sadly as the police rounded the corner. _It's a wonder they catch anyone like that. I wasn't even trying._

He winced. _No, try to hide! You can't afford to slip up. They might send you to an orphanage, which you can easily escape from, but they might send you to jail too, and it's better to not risk that kind of imprisonment._

_"Get out of here, Yami. I don't want you to get caught too, just for some Blood Fever. I knew it once, but please, don't let it cloud your judgment." Sessho had pulled him aside after they had told Jeremy's gang._

He got slowly to his feet. _Get out of here. Trys can't do anything if I get caught, and I can't trust a window to be there right when I need it. There's no reason to stay anyway._


	7. Tryst p7

Blood Fever

Yami had pulled out a neat black zipper sweater with a hood, and whipped the hood up over his eyes to hide his face a little as he strode down the street. A newspaper blew into his feet, and he stopped, staring at it. A picture of Trys's school was on the front, with the headline;

'Dangerous Kids Loose on the Streets Threaten Students at High School'

His lip curled and he kicked it. _Because of me. Now we're out of homes and can't walk through an alley without being chased by a bunch of blue featherheads… because I had to make sure Trys got to the Nurse's office._

It sounded worse in his head.

Kicking the newspaper had opened it, and he saw one of the inner pages held a picture of Trys on the front cover, looking shy. Yami gave a start, and picked it up, perusing the clipping for more information. 'Reports are unconfirmed, but it seems that one of the students at the very same high school was responsible for helping one of these punks into the school, who proceeded to destroy public property and attack some of the students. Ryou Trys will be questioned closely on the matter, but already many believe these reports to be mistaken, and she most likely will get off.'

Yami's lip curled in a snarl again, and he was about to throw the paper away, when the image of Trys stopped him.

He had been away for at least a month now, trying to keep from getting Trys in any more trouble, and hadn't seen her the whole time. But now, seeing her again made something in him twinge. He missed her, missed hanging out with her, missed being with her, missed seeing her.

Carefully, he tore out the picture and stuffed it in his pocket. He might not be a good artist, but he could take this. She would be reminded every time she saw that picture in her folder, and he would be reminded every time he saw that clipping.

Not like he would ever forget her, but it was great to remember her face.

A cold breeze shot down the street suddenly, and he turned his head aside, letting the newspaper get ripped from his hands and away. _Patience. You can't let them win at that game… not when it could cost everything._

_Winter's coming on, though…_ He sighed. _Just one last time… to say goodbye for the winter._

He started off. _Don't risk it, fool! That's how you got in trouble last time. Best thing would be to stay away. Who knows if they're watching the house _and_ the school?_ He stopped again, staring around.

_Yeah, wait. It's not like I'm not going to see her again._

He turned and went the other way, back to the others. After being kicked out, they had formed a knot, taking a spot on the beach with plenty of trees to block them from unfriendly eyes. Sessho was a natural leader, and usually took charge when something like this happened. He was directing the others as a team, some scavenging for food, others for protection against the coming months.

The rest were resting as best they could, to relieve the others when they returned. They all felt lower than if they had been alone. It was just sad.

Yami wasn't all that popular, but instead of outright dislike, it was a sort of acceptance for what happened, what was happening, and what might happen.

He stayed apart from the others and scavenged for himself, and they didn't share with him either. That was just the order of things. He came into the camp and trotted over to Sessho, who turned to meet him.

"Yami! I was getting worried." He greeted him in an undertone.

"It's getting worse." He replied. Every one of them knew it was Blood Fever, what they called it, anyway, that had gotten them here, but then, it usually was, and they had stopped complaining years ago, so no one asked.

Sessho sighed. "I won't bother asking you to forget her. No one really can. But then, we'd better get moving, before it gets worse."

Yami shook his head. "It's too early. Wait a little longer."

"How about you go? That would eliminate the problem for you, and we'll follow in a bit, when we usually do."

Yami nodded. "That might be better." He mumbled, then collapsed where he stood. "'Night."

Sessho shook his head in bitter amusement and moved off.

***

At the other town, only a few miles south, they stayed for the winter where it was sheltered from most cold weather. But Yami couldn't stop thinking about Trys, and couldn't stand it. So finally, he left. The night before he did, Sessho had awoken nearby, to hear Yami muttering, "Trys… stupid Blood Fever… Trys…" and wasn't surprised to notice him gone.

That didn't mean, however, that he wasn't concerned for his friend. _It's always the ones you least expect that get the worst Blood Fever. It's more like Soul Fever, or something like that. But he's going to get himself captured or killed that way._

He got to his feet. _And times like this is when you need friends the most._

***

Trys was alone at the park when she saw him.

"Sessho!" She called softly as he passed.

"Oh. Hey." He turned, lifting one hand. A thought occurred to him, and he came up to her. "You haven't seen Yami lately, have you?" He asked quietly after glancing around casually to check for listeners.

"No. Why? Is he missing?" Trys asked, getting to her feet.

"Yeah. We usually go to Tampa for the winter, and stick together for the most part. And he left a few days ago. I thought he might be here."

She cocked her head. "You probably have your reasons, but what makes you think he's gone? What if he's still there, just having some quiet time or something? And if he is gone, what makes you think he's here?"

"I've known him since he was a liddle kid. We'd run around together. He doesn't go away for quiet time like that without telling me. No matter why. And from what's recently happened, he could only have come here."

Trys nodded. "If I see him, I'll let him know you're looking for him."

"Actually," Sessho gave her a wry grin. "He's the best at finding things out, and I want to see if I can find him before he knows I'm here."

_Too late for that._ Yami thought, sighing. _But you did get to Trys first._ He turned away, sliding back into the shadows and down the street.


	8. Tryst p8

The police had finally given up, so it wasn't like one of them would find him curled up next to Trys's heater. But Trys did.

Worried about what Sessho had said, she had been walking through the alleys, hoping to come across Yami by chance. On her way home from yet another fruitless expedition, she had found him there, sleeping somehow in the bitter cold. "Yami!" She ran forward, crouching swiftly beside him.

"T-Trys…?" Yami looked up, pale with chill, teeth chattering slightly.

"You're frozen!" She gasped, whipping off her jacket. "Here. What are you doing out here in the cold?" She reprimanded him as she wrapped it around him. "I don't care what my parents say, you're coming inside right now."

He didn't argue. He could barely stand, and couldn't feel anything beyond the inside of his head and the core of his heart. He hardly rose any frost when he exhaled, he was so cold. She rubbed him vigorously all the way inside. Perhaps it was lucky that her parents weren't in at the moment. She could feel him trembling in her arms, could even see the chill of his breath as he came in.

"Th-th-thanks." He stuttered as she guided him upstairs to her room.

"Why are you here? And couldn't you get something warmer before you came? Here." She pulled out her blanket and wrapped him snugly in it before sitting him on the bed. "I'll get some hot chocolate for you."

Yami shuddered as he snuggled deeper into the blanket, trying to feel it at all. Slowly, the warmth and feeling spread back into his body, and for most of the time he just held the hot chocolate in his hands. It was the first time he had been in someone's house, and it was certainly a strange experience. And for all the cold outside, it was one of the best, adding the fact that Trys was there, and he had his first cup of hot chocolate.

Trys sat opposite him in her chair, watching him sip at the steaming cup. "I've been thinking… since you're here… well… my parents would mind. So maybe if you stayed quiet, you could stay the whole winter."

Yami's teeth had stopped chattering now, and he felt much warmer than he had felt in a long time, magnified by the chill he had been in an hour ago. She got up and came over to sit next to him, lending her warmth. He shifted the blanket slightly to envelop her as well, and she rested against him. "That would be nice, but where would I be?"

"Probably my closet for the most part. I don't have any brothers or sisters that could just walk in, and my parents hardly ever come up here, but better not take chances. During the night you could come out; they set the heater lower, since we're asleep, and the closet wouldn't be warm enough." She offered rather shyly.

He knew what she was suggesting. It was rather frightening, but he would have faced anything if it meant getting off those cold streets for the night. He would even have stayed out there all day than face what she was suggesting, but he felt nothing was worse than sleeping out there for a cold winter night.

He looked down at the bed, and she said quickly, "I have extra blankets, and my bed's pretty big, too."

He nodded slowly. "Alright."

She stiffened suddenly, then went to the door. "Mom? Dad? That you?"

"Yeah, we're home! Did you have a good walk? Did you get our note?"

"Uhh… nice walk, but I didn't see the note."

"Did you make hot chocolate?"

"I was a little chilly when I got home."

"That's alright. I was just wondering. You forgot to put the wrappers in the trash."

"Oh. Sorry. I'll get them."

"That's alright, I got them. You had two cups."

"Yeah. Really cold."

"Okay, but the maximum was one, remember?"

"Sorry. I'll remember next time."

"Okay. Can you come and clean up the snow you tracked in?"

"Oh! Sorry about that!"

She looked back at Yami, who nodded and made for the closet. She closed the door carefully behind her and spent the next fifteen minutes cleaning up the tracks, hoping very much that her parents hadn't noticed what seemed so obviously two sets of tracks coming in.


	9. Tryst p9

When she got back up into her room, she went over to her closet, and was about to open it when her dad knocked. She froze for a split second, then went ahead and opened the closet a fraction and pulled out her night things so she didn't look too suspicious. "What is it, Dad?"

"There were two sets of tracks coming in. Did you go out again?"

"Yeah. I came in and made a cup of hot chocolate, then went out again, and came back and made another one."

"Why did you come to your room the first time if you were only making hot chocolate?"

"I wanted another jacket." She said quickly, gesturing at the one she had given Yami, which was draped over her chair, blessing her lucky stars that she was still wearing the one she'd pulled on after giving Yami his hot chocolate.

"I see. Just wondering." He shrugged. "And Mom's looking for her spare blankets."

"I– I borrowed them. I was really cold. And after I warmed up, I put them in my closet."

"Well, she wants them back. Great-Uncle Arthur is coming over, and he's using the guest room."

"Where is Rebecca going to sleep?"

"Well, I was going to have Rebecca sleep in your room. What's wrong? Were you planning on using that space for someone else?" Both parents had been shocked at the accusation, and had their own suspicions that the accusation that Trys had helped Yami into school was true. And ever since then, they had been watching her closely for any suspicious activity.

She shook her head quickly, using that moment to try to wipe the terrified and guilty expression off her face. "No, that's okay. I just forgot they were coming, is all." Which was true. Ever since Sessho had told her about Yami, all she thought of was him, worrying away, and totally forgetting that relatives were coming. "I'd better get ready for them. When are they coming?"

"Tomorrow evening. Trys…" He became suddenly uncomfortable. "Did you help someone into school?"

She kept her face as blank as she could, then said finally, "No. Everyone thinks of it that way, though."

"Why?"

"Well, to start at the beginning, I had run off during recess. One of the kids upset me, and I left school. I got caught by a gang, and he helped me. He's not a dangerous kid… he was really nice. He stopped them and helped me get back to school, and came with me inside. But he didn't hurt anyone, they were just trying to grab him for trespassing."

"Why didn't you tell us from the beginning, Trys?"

"I was afraid. I didn't know if you would approve of me trusting him. But he saved my life, and he just wanted to make sure I was okay."

"Some people," He said gently, "Can't be trusted."

She nodded. "I know." She set her clothes on the bed. "Can you go? I want to change."

He nodded and left. She glanced around at the closet, then followed silently.

Her mother was in the kitchen, and that's where her father met her, taking the warm coffee. "Well?" She asked quietly.

Trys couldn't see, but she was listening on the stairwell.

"She let someone in, but she's defending him stoutly. At first it was with lies, now this… he was just trying to help her. She sounded a little too confident to me. I think you're right; she _is_ hiding someone."

Trys stifled a gasp and backed up three steps, but waited.

"Well… I don't want to force her to show up anything. She's been a good child her whole life, George."

"But this could be the mistake that kills us, Eliza. I want to know whoever comes into my house, and well, too."

Yami laid a hand on Trys's shoulder, and she gave a start. He flicked his gaze back to the room, and she followed quietly. Like two shadows, they passed unnoticed and unheeded.

"I don't want to get you in trouble, Trys." Yami began the instant the door was closed behind them.

"Yami, no. I would rather I was in trouble than you frozen to death."

He shook his head. "I can live, Trys. I'll go back to Tampa and stay there for the rest of the winter."

"Yami!" She snapped, though she still kept her voice low. "Not even you could survive another night in the cold like that, and it's too late to reach Tampa. You'll freeze to death, and I don't want that to happen to you."

"Sessho's out there, and if he can survive, so can I." He looked stubborn and slightly worried for her.

Trys grabbed his arm. "Yami, I can't do anything about Sessho, but I can help you. Please don't go."

"You heard them. They know I'm here. And your relatives are coming, and that will mean I'll be in the closet all winter."

"Yami, please." She hugged herself fitfully. "You'll die if you go back out there."

"But what will I eat?"

"With them coming over, it'll be easier for me to buy food and say it's for Rebecca. And she can keep a secret, if she finds out."

"How old is Rebecca?"

"Twelve."

Yami looked suddenly skeptical.

"And she's in college."

"Oh. That makes it all better? Sorry." He added quickly as she sighed. He looked down. _I really don't want to be out there in the cold… but staying would mean endangering Trys. I don't know what they would do to her, but…_ He looked up, then smiled. "Fine, I'll stay. Heh, many of the people I know wouldn't think twice about spending the rest of the winter in a warm closet instead of… where we usually are."


	10. Tryst p10

That night, as they had planned, Trys waited until she was sure of her parents being asleep, and opened the closet. Yami came out, touching her face in the darkness, and she guided him over to the bed and lay down. He laid on the other side.

_Most of the time, it's whatever I've found that's soft, with arms for pillows, but now this is clean and warm and sheltered. Sessho would kill me if he found out._ Yami grinned into the darkness, imagining Sessho's shocked look.

Trys's father was outside, listening. He had heard the rustling, but whoever it was wouldn't be able to get out. He had locked the door. _Sorry, Trys._

***

Thump.

Yami had hit the floor, where he curled up quite contentedly. It was still ten times better than sleeping outside on the cold concrete. The others heard it, but none of them came investigating. Trys just stuck out her hand where Yami's back might have been, and smiled in her sleep, rolling over.

***

Trys woke early, planning on getting some breakfast while her parents were still asleep, and saw Yami snoozing gently on the floor. She smiled and got up noiselessly, moving around him to the door, which was locked. She winced and left it alone. Her window was too small, and she didn't have anything to climb down with. She sighed and got back into bed. Yami smiled inwardly and shut his half-open eye.

Later, Elisa unlocked the door and tapped it. Yami shifted under the desk out of sight, pressing against it and hiding the blankets further under. Trys went slowly to the door, waiting a moment for Yami to get settled, then opened it. "Mom? What were you doing?"

She smiled. "I got breakfast for you, Trys."

"Okay. I'll be right down."

After she had closed the door, Yami peered around the desk. Trys stood staring at the door for a long moment, then growled softly, "They're going to search the room for you."

Yami nodded. "I'll hide good, then."

***

Search as he might, George couldn't find Yami. He knew he was in there somewhere, but he couldn't find him. And he felt sure he had passed very close near Yami's hiding spot.

Yami didn't move at all. He held as still as he could, watching George's progress around the room. Finally, the sounds of Trys leaving the kitchen got George out, and Yami sighed with relief as he closed the door. However, he didn't move or get up until Trys came in and shut the door behind her. The closet door had been left open, and she went to it. "Yami?" She whispered into it.

Yami shifted, and she giggled suddenly, realizing where he was. "You can come out now."

He sat up, brushing the blanket and the stuffed animals off him, shaking his head and holding up two fingers, a hair apart. "That's how close he got to me. That close!"

Her eyebrows went up, and she nodded. "I'm impressed."

"His skill, or mine?" Yami asked as he sat there. She sat down in front of him, smiling.

"Both, actually. Did he see you?"

"He saw my shirt, but I doubt he connected it with me. No, I don't think he saw me."

***

Rebecca trotted in, then ran to Trys, who was waiting, and hugged her. "Trys! It's been _ages_. How are you?"

"I'm great. It's been too long. Come on, you're kipping in my room." Trys grabbed one of Rebecca's bags and led the way back to her room, where she had set up a bed for Rebecca, on the floor, where Yami had been last night.

"This is great! You've changed stuff around since I was here last." She set her bags on the bed and proceeded to unpack. "I'd better move this stuff to the closet now, or it won't be done ever. And a lot of this stuff has to be hung up too, to keep it nice."

"I forgot you like using the closet. I'll get my stuff out of the way." Trys said quickly, jumping up right after sitting down on her chair and hastening to the closet.

Yami had heard, and was quickly getting back into his hiding spot. She helped him a little by making a bit of a clatter to hide his movements, though she did actually have to shift aside some stuff. "Did you bring your own hangars?" She asked, voice muffled through the door as she reached for a set that hadn't been touched.

"Yeah, so you don't have to worry about that. All I need is space on the bar."

"Okay. I think it's ready." Trys turned back. "Pass me your stuff, and I'll hang it up."

"No, that's alright. I can do it, you know."

"This is my room, and I should be helping you anyway."

"Trys!" Arthur called from downstairs. "Can you come here, please?"

Trys looked at Rebecca, who grinned. "Coming." Trys trotted out, wincing.

Rebecca was lying on her belly on her bed, sorting through her Duel Monsters cards, when Trys came back in.

"Oh, hey." She said, not looking up.

"Hi." She sat down, watching. "What're you doing?"

"Well, you know these are Duel Monsters cards. I'm just sorting through them." She looked up. "I read about you in the newspaper. People were saying you were helping some kid into school. Did you?"

Trys slid down to sit in front of her. "Yes."

"Really? Why? Who is the kid? What're they like? Are they a boy, or a girl?"

"His name is Yami. He was really nice. I was in a tight corner, and he helped me get back to school."

Rebecca glanced at the door, then grinned. "Alright."


	11. Tryst p11

That night, Rebecca woke Trys, whispering, "_Now_ can you tell me about Yami?"

Trys glanced around. "Okay."

"'Cos if I know anything about you, you were avoiding the subject earlier. There's a lot more to him than you're saying."

Yami's eyes snapped open, and for a moment he wasn't sure where he was. He reached out, and the walls of the closet suddenly seemed close. He sat up slowly and heard whispering on the other side of the door. Silently, he leaned closer to hear.

"Well, we met the first day of school, actually. I'm only telling you because I trust you. He's the best friend I've ever had, but no one would understand, just because he lives in the streets."

"Okay. Basically this is a secret, right?"

"Yeah. And I'm telling you because you're my friend too." Trys settled down opposite her, moonlight slanting through the window and lighting their faces. Yami shifted silently into a more comfortable position; this sounded like it would take a while, and he didn't want to miss a word of it. "I didn't have any friends at my school; not yet, anyway. I had gone to one of the benches, which was actually out of the way, so no one really looked at it often. He would come there every day during recess to have a little time off from being on the streets, and he came. I didn't trust him at first, but he wasn't going to do anything with so many kids around, and all he did was ask if he could sit on the bench with me. We kept to our separate sides for a while, but he seemed pretty nice.

"So eventually it became that we were hanging out with each other instead of just happening to sit on the same bench. I'd bring him lunch, because you can't exactly find a filling banquet out there." Rebecca chuckled at that. "But eventually I got friends at school, and started hanging out with them instead. I didn't really notice I was ignoring Yami until I forgot even to bring lunch." Trys looked down. "It was when I looked over at the bench. He wasn't there. He'd gone to get his own lunch as soon as he knew I wasn't bringing it."

"That's bad." Rebecca commented. "You let him down."

"I know. I'd broken my promise to him. So I went back to get him lunch, and tried to find him. I hadn't forgotten to bring it to school, so it was still in my locker."

"You went off to get him lunch? That's sweet!" Trys held a finger to Rebecca's lips.

"Quiet! Do you want to wake everyone up?"

"Sorry. Keep going."

"I had no idea of where he was, so naturally, I got lost. And into trouble. I was cornered by a gang, and Yami found me. He helped me get away."

"He rescued you? Awww… how cute…"

"Shut it." Trys snapped exasperatedly. "He did, but you don't have to make it sound so soppy. He's my friend, and I'm his, so he helped. Honestly, Rebecca!" She added when Rebecca made puppy dog eyes. "Do you want to hear the rest, or do you want to tease me all night long?"

"I don't know, the teasing sounds appealing. I'm kidding!" She said quickly, recoiling. "I _do_ want to hear the rest. It sounds like you're actually getting to the part everyone is talking about."

"Yeah, now be quiet." She glanced at the door of both closet and hall before continuing. "I'd been a bit hasty, and got a few nasty bumps and bruises, not to mention I was lost. So I gave Yami his lunch, and he led me back to school. He decided to come with me…" A grin came unbidden to her lips. "To make sure I didn't trip again. I said I could handle walking to the nurse's office from there, but said he could come along anyway."

Rebecca giggled. "Fat chance! He wanted to stay with you, that's all. I bet, since you guys weren't hanging out as often, that he just wanted to 'hang out' until you got to the nurse's."

Trys thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess that could have been the reason. Whatever it was, he came with me. I had my lunchbox still, and it would raise awkward questions if I showed up with it. So I asked Yami to put it in my locker for me. Well, he asked to do it so I could get to the nurse's, actually, but it doesn't matter. Next thing I knew, I heard people yelling, and Yami comes in, panting for breath and chased by half the school."

"Uh-oh. I guess they figured out he didn't go to your school, then."

"Well, I think part of it was my other friends knew which locker was mine, and so…"

"Oh, well that too."

"Anyway, they chase him a little more, and he gets away through a window."

Yami heard Rebecca give a low whistle. "Through a window? I bet they weren't happy about that…"

"That's about all I know. I know he didn't attack anyone, though. He's not like that, and everyone would have been talking about it as soon as he left, if he had. The rumor started up once it couldn't quite be confirmed or denied, a few days later." Trys shrugged.


	12. Tryst p12

"So… you know this punk, and forget lunch for him, then go try to give it, get in trouble with a gang, he busts you out, and the two of you go waltzing into school. Oh, and he breaks a window. Sounds kinda funny, actually."

Trys managed a weak smile.

"He lives on the streets, right? Where is he staying for the winter? Because he couldn't live out there right now."

"He has some friends, and they go to Tampa for the winter. They have a place there that's sheltered." Trys glanced at the closet, and Rebecca followed her gaze curiously.

"What is it?"

Trys looked down. Suddenly she wasn't sure if she could tell Rebecca. The way she had acted so far didn't exactly mean she was going to keep a secret this important. But she wouldn't be able to hide it; Rebecca had her things in the closet, and sooner or later she might get up before Yami, and find out anyway. Probably in a bad way, too.

"Well…" She glanced at the door to the hall again, then rose silently and went to it, opening it to see the hall outside. No one was there. She closed it carefully and went back to Rebecca. "Please don't tell anyone."

Rebecca nodded, then realization dawned on her face and she looked back at the closet. "He's _here_?" She managed, giggling silently, keeping her voice as low as she could. Trys nodded, and Rebecca's silent fit increased so much it became low snorting laughter as she doubled over. "That's priceless! And your parents don't know?"

"They think he's here, but they have zero proof." Trys was starting to grin too. "Dad even tried to search my room, and apparently came this close to Yami and didn't even see him." She held up two fingers, now starting to giggle silently too. The situation was suddenly ironic; her best friend was sleeping in her closet, and her parents had no idea he was there.

Rebecca shook, eyes bright with laughter, for a minute or so before she could get over her giggles. "Can I meet him?"

Trys shook her head energetically, sobering swiftly. "I think he's asleep, and I don't want to wake him up."

Yami considered the door for a long moment, then tapped quietly on it. "I have to disagree, actually." He opened it. "You woke me up with all your chattering. Don't worry, I'm probably a lighter sleeper than most. Kind of have to be if you don't want to get snuck up on." He leaned sideways against the wall of the closet, folding his arms and disappearing behind the frame. "Besides. If you trust her, then I want to meet her."

Rebecca stuck a small hand in front of him. "Nice to meet you. And this is probably the weirdest place of all places I've yet met someone. My name's Rebecca."

Yami blinked at her, then winced. "Can't you keep your voice down?"

She huffed indignantly and pulled her hand back. "Gee, that's all the hello I get? You ignore my hand, then ask me to be quiet?"

Yami leaned forward to see her. "Well… what was I supposed to do? Kiss it? And you were loud enough for someone to hear every word if they were outside in the hall. What if one of the adults needed to go to the bathroom or something and heard you?" He hissed.

Rebecca stared at him, then giggled again. Even Trys was having a hard time hiding a smile.

"What?" He demanded, looking from one face to the other.

"You're just supposed to shake my hand. Here, I'll show you. Hold out your hand."

Yami felt very stupid as she lifted it up and down several times. "My name's Rebecca." She said again, as though prompting him.

"Mine's Yami." He muttered, releasing her hand and pulling his back.

"As for the sound, I guess that's okay. I'll try to be quiet."

"How long are you staying, Rebecca?"

"Until New Year's. That's three weeks."

Yami withdrew, and Rebecca followed to the door, staring in at his shadowy form. He could have passed for some monster if he had wanted, with his eyes glinting like that at her.

"I just realized; that means you're going to be here for three weeks, aren't you?" She asked. _Why do I feel like I know him?_

His teeth flashed in a silent snarl, and he looked truly frightening for one moment, but his voice was steady, calm, and easy-going. "That's alright. It's the best place I can be at the moment. It's just that a friend of mine is out looking for me, and I can't tell him I'm all right."

"Sessho!" Trys whispered.

Yami nodded.

"Who's Sessho?"

"He's a very good friend of mine. He helped me a lot, kind of like a big brother." Yami drew a little further back, sighing.

"I could do it." Trys offered. "He was in the park a few days ago, so I'm sure I can find him."

Yami shifted, then leaned forward. "You'd… do that?"

"Of course. And I'll pack some extra warm stuff for him."

Rebecca watched for a moment, then whispered, "I'd better stay to make sure they don't try to search the room again."

"Thanks."

There was a silence for a moment, then Trys continued, "Come on. We should all get some sleep; we've been up too long anyway. Come on, Rebecca."

Yami was apparently a lot more exhausted than he had showed. He curled up instantly, and seconds later the sounds of his quiet breathing evened out, his chest rising and falling peacefully.

"I envy him." Rebecca breathed as she moved to her bed. "He doesn't have any trouble falling asleep. And you're lucky, Trys; he's really cute."

Trys bristled.

"But I like Yugi, so you can keep Yami all to yourself." Rebecca yawned, not seeing Trys's expression, and neither of them noticed Yami's breath skip a beat.

_Yugi… WHY is that name so _familiar_? I'm sure I haven't ever heard it before… except as the King of Games. But both Yugi and the King of Games sound familiar… in another way._

Rebecca lay down, thinking. _Yugi…_ His smiling face drifted into her thoughts, and she grinned into her pillow.


	13. Tryst p13

Christmas and Memories

When Trys came back, Bakura, her little brother, was there. He came out as she walked up the walkway. "Hey, Trys! How are you?"

"Bakura!" She watched him carefully before she nodded and smiled. Even when the evil spirit hadn't quite been there, he hadn't seemed so free underneath. "The Ring?" She asked quietly as they entered.

"Oh yeah. The pharaoh gave him a right old trouncing. He's gone, and the Ring too. You?" Bakura laughed, putting one hand on her shoulder.

"I got a new friend." She glanced over at the parents, who were all chattering as they watched some show or another. She lowered her voice anyway. "He's in my closet."

Bakura too glanced over at the adults, then nodded.

As soon as they were up in her room, she proceeded to tell him about Yami.

***

Yami listened. Something had awoken him minutes ago, but he couldn't remember what. He shrugged it off, hearing Bakura's next statement.

"Can I meet him?" He asked quietly.

Trys opened the door first. "Yami? You awake?"

"Yes." Yami leaned forward to get a better look of Bakura.

"Nice to meet you, Yami." Bakura stuck out his hand, and Yami jumped.

Trys whispered something in his ear Yami couldn't quite catch, and Bakura smiled. "I don't shake like Rebecca does."

Yami eyed him for a moment, then took his hand. He just squeezed briefly, then released.

"It's nice to meet you."

"You already know who I am, and I know who you are. It's nice to meet you too." Yami muttered.

Bakura smiled.

"Someone's coming!" Rebecca hissed suddenly behind them, and they shut the door and went back to other games.

***

Yami had shown a special affinity for Duel Monsters. He got the game almost instantly, and his deck was hard to beat, even if he was borrowing Trys's cards, and she had already chosen her own deck.

He trounced each of them every time he played, though he felt his deck was incomplete. There was something missing, and suddenly he wished he had a Different Dimension Dragon and a Dark Magician. Both were somehow special.

The Dark Magician because it was his favorite monster, and the dragon because it was Trys's. He knew he would be able to get those at a store, along with his own deck, but he couldn't exactly just trade baubles. That was apparently just for his world.

He would have to find the money for it.

Of course, he had reckoned without Trys, Bakura, and Rebecca. And it became clear to him on Christmas Day.

The others were all downstairs for nearly the whole day. When they came back up, however, each of them bore a bit of food, whatever they could stuff in their pockets and hide in their hands. Now, they put it all on a plate Trys had snuck up, and Rebecca opened the door to the closet. "Yami… we have a little surprise for you…"

He rose and came out, for the first time in weeks. Somehow, though, he felt the same as ever, and felt no disorienting or dizziness at getting up. Trys held out the plate, and he stared at her for a moment before taking the plate slowly. "Thank you." He whispered, then sat down on the floor and proceeded to eat. His stomach had been squirling a little with no food all day and a small dinner last night.

"And Yami…"

He looked up, mouth full of ham and mayo sauce. He swallowed quickly and asked, "What?"

They all were holding things behind their backs, suddenly. He eyed them, ever ready for some kind of attack, just in case. But instead, it was a box, wrapped in black and sliver paper from Trys. Rebecca had a larger box with blue wrapping and candy canes all over it, and Bakura's was gold with silver lining. "We got you presents."

Yami couldn't speak.

Rebecca's was a coat, a long one that draped about his ankles, with a heating system and a little dial to set the temperature. Bakura's was a Duel Disk, even if they wouldn't have much chance to use them inside. And Trys…

She'd given him a deck of his own. The first card was a fusion monster called D.D. Dark Sorcerer, which was a combination of Different Dimension Dragon and Dark Magician. Under that was a Polymerization card, and under that was Different Dimension Dragon and Dark Magician, his favorite cards.

The rest were expansion packs, from which he could choose a deck of his own.

And all through opening them, his throat was obstructed, and he couldn't speak. It was just too much for him to take in. He'd gotten presents, for the first time in his life! And each one was wonderful.

Finally, he choked, "Thank… thanks, guys. This really… this really means a lot to me." His joy seemed unparalleled, and he hugged each of them in turn. When they turned back to their other presents, Yami leaned close to Trys and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She glowed and beamed at him.


	14. Tryst p14

For Yami's escape once the guests had left was to sneak out with Trys as she went back to school. At first she would engage her mom in conversation, as her dad was already out, but she changed her mind. She tapped softly on the door before opening it. Yami was in the act of sitting up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"What is it?" He whispered.

Trys held out her hand. "We're going early. Mom said I could buy a breakfast at school, so she won't think too much about me leaving this early. I do, sometimes."

She helped him up, and he shrugged. "Alright."

She picked up her pack and led the way downstairs. Luckily, her mom wasn't up yet, and her dad had already left. She closed the door quietly behind them, and started off. He walked by her side, the coat Rebecca had given him shielding his face from unfriendly eyes. Trys had helped him make a pouch for his Duel Disk, and he had his deck in the slot too. Everything else he owned he was wearing.

She slid her hand hesitantly into his. He looked down at her, and she blushed, but he gave her hand a light squeeze and smiled. She smiled back, and they continued down the street towards school.

Yami stopped, lifting his head. His skills had by no means been dulled by 'house life' as the others had put it, so unless he was imagining things, someone was stalking them.

"What is it, Yami?" Trys asked hesitantly, looking up into his watchful face.

He was silent for a moment, but the sound was gone. The prickling wasn't, and he had learned to trust his instincts in the streets. He pulled her slightly closer, then shook his head. "Nevermind. It's nothing." He softened his look, appearing outwardly relaxed, and continued forward.

The stalker continued as well, and Yami heard them again.

He didn't show any signs of tensing, but to Trys, the early morning suddenly felt dangerous. Yami glanced casually around, then said, "I should get back to my world, you know. I shouldn't risk coming too much further." Much lower, he hissed, "Someone's following us. I'll get them, but you have to trust me."

"Okay." She murmured back, then louder, she said, "I wish you wouldn't go, but I guess you have to. See you later, then."

"Just keep going to school. I'll draw them away if I can. I'll meet you."

"Okay." She felt terrified, but she nodded and continued without him. He watched her go for a while, as though longingly, though half of it was sensing for the stalker. They hadn't passed him, and they were still watching. He turned, melting into the shadows, and returned to the cold streets he knew so well.

A bulky shadow detached itself and followed Trys further. Yami came along behind, more silent than the moon, and more hidden than the deepest shadow. It crept closer and closer to her, and as it did, Yami became aware of the fact that it was enormous, taller than the buildings, but the light made it nearly impossible to see.

He stopped when he saw its true size and form. _That's not good at all._

Trys felt terrified and started to trot. The gigantic shadow thing continued to follow, and Yami decided now was not the time to be worrying whether others noticed him or not. He sprinted forward, running around the shadow, and grabbed Trys's arm, dragging her forward, yelling, "RUN!"

The shadow gave a quiet, low growl and came faster, grinning. Yami just dragged Trys on. She looked back once, but didn't see anything. Still, her fear drove her onward.

He didn't know where he should go at first, and just fled for her school, where she had been headed, and burst through the doors, slamming them shut as quickly as he could, tossing her into a corner. "Stay there!" He hissed as he went to the window and took a swift peek, pulling back immediately.

"What is it?" She asked tentatively, terrified.

"The biggest thing I've ever seen. But the light seems to make it invisible, or at least mostly. It's hard to see the true size, but it's enormous." He looked up to the ceiling, where he knew it was crouching over the building. _We're not safe here._ He added to himself. _Maybe it'll follow… no, I tried that already._

"Hey, it's you again!" A teacher approached, and Yami spun. "What are you doing here? Get away from her!"

His exasperation momentarily overpowered his fear, and he stepped sideways automatically. "Honestly. I'm not going to hurt her or anything. Haven't you realized that yet?"

"Trespassing on school grounds! Out! Before I call the police!"

Yami sighed. Somehow, talking about a gigantic shadow thing crouching over the school didn't sound like something she would swallow. He turned to the door. "Fine."

"Yami!" Trys got to her feet, darting between him and the door. "That thing might get you! You can't risk it!"

"What thing?"

Yami shook his head, grabbing her arm. "Trys, I belong on the streets. Let me go."

"What thing?" She repeated, looking from one to the other.

Trys winced. "Yami, don't! This is so much more than trying to satisfy everyone else so I can stay in school! _Please_! Don't go!"

He pulled her aside and walked to the door. "Forget about me. I'm some kid off the street. And I belong in my world, not here."

"But…" She grabbed his arm. "You're afraid of it, and you're the bravest person I know! If you go… what if you get hurt?"

Yami shook his head. "I'll take care of myself." He thrust her aside again and opened the door. The thing was right out there, on the street, waiting.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward, walking straight at it. _Okay. Now for the fun part._

To the other two, he was halfway to the gate when he faded suddenly, as though swallowed by the scene.

_NO!_ Trys gasped, covering her mouth. A similar gasp came from the teacher beside her.

"Yami…" She whispered, gazing out across the grounds to where he had gone.


	15. Tryst p15

Yami stirred slowly, and it was very dark. At first, he thought he was still in Trys's closet, that nothing had happened yet, that it was all just a dream. But then he saw the cobwebs, all blue in some light he couldn't see. It seemed more to color things blue than actually shedding light.

The cobwebs held him in the strangest, and thickest, mesh he had ever seen. He could barely move.

"Hey, it's Yugi!" A young boy with long black hair exclaimed, looking up at him. "How'd you get caught?"

Yami looked around. There were three others that he could see, and even as he watched, the webbing shifted and another joined them, the oldest of the group as someone matured, unconscious. The others were teens about his age. One was a girl, and the other two looked like opposites.

"Yugi?" She asked, looking suddenly worried. "Oh no. That's not good…"

"That's not Yugi." The rich-looking one growled. "Mokuba, he may look like Yugi, but it's not him. Ever since I accepted the past, I've been able to sense the presence of others, and this isn't Yugi."

Yami looked from one to the next. "Who are you? And where are we?"

"We're in this huge creature who wants ta destroy tha world, tha's where, in it's belly. As fer me, I'm Joey."

"I'm Téa."

"As you probably already know, I'm Mokuba, and this is my big bro, Seto."

Seto suddenly grinned. "Well, well. If I'm reading this right, the pharaoh erased his memory _again_."

"What, you mean that's Atem?"

"But… how c'd…?"

"What do you mean, Seto?"

"That's the pharaoh, all right. But he looks too clueless to be able to remember." Seto snorted.

"I'm not a pharaoh." Yami growled suddenly, feeling more like a stranger every second. "I'm not Yugi, either. I'm just Yami. I've lived on the streets my whole life, and my best friend raised me." His growl changed to a snarl of defiance. "My name's Yami, not Atem or Yugi."

"Your little nickname is Yami." Seto turned away with an unmistakable air of contempt. "Looks like he might have modified his and another's memory. And used Yami as his name."

"Great. How do we get him back now, then?" Joey asked, looking from him to Yami, then back.

"I only know that, nothing else, Wheeler."

"Well, pardon me, Rich-Boy. It was just a question fer speculation."

"Hey, it's Rafael, look."

"And this time we're sure, right?"

"That's him." Seto growled, giving Yami a dark look. "You've fallen far if you've modified your own memory just to live a life in the dumps."

Yami ignored him.

"Kaiba, that was uncalled for, and unnecessary." Téa snapped. "I'm sure he would have had a good reason to. Leave him alone."

"Hey, look down, guys. You can see where the Leviathan is now." Mokuba pointed with just his finger, as he couldn't move much else.

"Wait, that's the gaming shop! Yugi!" Téa looked worried.

The door opened and Yugi stepped out. They all gave Yami sideways, secretive looks, but they could have yelled in his ear and he wouldn't have noticed.

_Yugi?! WHY is he so familiar? Where have _I_ seen him?_ Yami looked shocked to the core, and to the others, that made him the pharaoh, no matter what he said. They looked back to see Yugi look out, then slowly up.

"That's not good." He muttered, then whipped up his arm, and his dueldisk activated. He drew three cards. _Last time, it was Atem who used these to get rid of the Leviathan. Well, now it's my turn; he's gone, for good. So I have to do it myself. Kaiba and Mokuba and who knows who else is prisoner in that thing. Okay… here goes…_ "You may recognize these, Leviathan!" He yelled, and placed them on his disk. The Egyptian God monsters, Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra, erupted from the dueldisk to face the Leviathan.

Yami was paralyzed. He couldn't tear his gaze away. Somehow, he knew their names. "But how?" He muttered to himself.

"What, your little spell not strong enough to forget the Egyptian Gods? Go on, tell us what they are."

Yami barely registered him, enough to hear the request, but not enough to realize what he was doing by replying. "Obelisk… the Tormentor… Slifer, the Sky Dragon… the Winged Dragon… of Ra…" He whispered haltingly, if obediently, unable to tear his gaze away.

"Fuse into the Creator of Light to banish this darkness!" Yugi yelled.

Yami frowned. "That will only work if…"

"What? If what?"

"What are the odds it'll happen?"

Yami looked like he was in his own world, consisting of only him, Yugi, and the Egyptian Gods, who were gathering together to form the Creator of Light.

"Looks like it doesn't matter what the odds are, Yugi's overcome them." Mokuba muttered, watching them form together.

The brighter it was, the harder it was to see the Leviathan. But now, the Creator of Light made it disappear altogether, for eternity. Yami landed at Yugi's feet, and the others nearby.

Yugi stared down, and for a moment, he was in just as much shock as Yami was. "Pharaoh?" He whispered. "But… you're supposed to be _home_! In the Afterlife! Isn't that where you've always wanted to be?"

"Apparently he likes the streets better. He's modified his memory to be some kid living in the alleys all his life. And from what he said, he's modified someone else's memory too." Seto got to his feet, dusting himself off as though nothing had happened. "But he recognized you, _and_ the Egyptian Gods. And even said something about whether summoning the Creator of Light would work."

Yami just raised his head slowly to look up at Yugi. Slowly, he got to his hands and knees and looked back at the ground, shocked to his core. _Who am I?! Why is everyone so certain I'm this pharaoh? Why do I think they could be right? I'm just Yami!_ He pushed himself to his feet and looked around at them. _When did all this madness start?_ He tried to remember back, and Trys came to his mind.

_I thought someone was stalking us. Which reminds me… is she safe?_ He turned, glancing at the street. _This isn't a good territory to be in. This gang doesn't belong to our network. We're literally at war with them. If they ever find out… They'll be after my hide. And a lone wolf will get eaten alive out there._


	16. Tryst p16

"Hey… Pharaoh? What's wrong?"

He looked back. "I'm not…" But he couldn't say it. It just wouldn't come to him. It refused to come. It was a lie, anyway. He felt cold. _If it _is_ a lie, and I _am_ a pharaoh, then… why did I choose such a low life? Why did I choose the streets? Why did I put myself where I am, if I really did have a choice in the matter? What if I didn't?_

_But what if I… what if… when… what if I stop loving Trys when I become the pharaoh? So many things will have to change, and I don't want to let go of her…_

He started backing away. That gang was probably watching, waiting for him to run. _Where? To the streets? To Trys? WHERE?_ He wanted to run, run and never look back, never think back, never come back. He was Yami, a kid off the streets.

But he was a pharaoh, who had modified his own memory, and Sessho's, to live a life in the alleys.

Yami, a back-street alley kid in love with Trys…

Pharaoh, who had chosen to live a life of trash…

But he was sure he wouldn't modify Sessho's memory, no matter which of them he was. From what the others said, he sounded too good to do something like that were he the pharaoh. Sessho would have the answer.

But did he want to know? Did he want to… find out?

_Ignorance is bliss, but half it is torture._ He thought, wincing. They were just watching him. He winced again. He couldn't stand this. The questions rebounded in his head, demanding all the more attention for the less answers he had.

"Atem?" Yugi whispered.

Yami couldn't meet his eyes. He was convinced the world would explode when he found the answers. And he wished he could get it over with. But he was so much more afraid of what the answer was than that shadow. _Trys._ She came automatically to his mind, and he looked back down the street again.

"What is it?"

_Sort out your questions. Okay… who am I? If I'm just Yami, then how do I know the Egyptian Gods, and Yugi? If I'm this pharaoh, then why did I want to be in the opposite place? Pharaohs are kings, but then why did I choose this dump, if I am one? Sessho would know the answer to this, I'm sure. I wouldn't modify his memory too, if I could avoid it… from what they say, anyway… But what about Trys? If I am a pharaoh, will I forget her? I don't want to… I'd happily stay the way I am as long as I had her…_

"Yami? What are you doing in this corner of town?" Bakura trotted up. "Oh, hey guys."

"Bakura, tha's tha pharaoh. Ya know, tha one that use ta be inside Yugi." Joey said quickly.

"Wot? But…" He looked over at Yami, then snorted. "That's impossible. He lives on the streets, that's what Trys said. Whoever he is, he can't be the pharaoh."

Yami felt a sudden wave of affection for Bakura's certainty. But it didn't help him much.

"Bakura, you may be certain, but I'm certain this is the pharaoh. There's no way he could be anyone else. He apparently modified his memory to be some kid off the streets, but he's not, I can assure you." Seto growled.

"Then that's you." Bakura shrugged. "Yami, I've been looking all over for you– Trys said you just disappeared, on your way out of the school. What happened?"

Yami suddenly didn't feel any better. He still felt like a stranger. They knew Bakura, and though Bakura was standing up for him, he still felt he couldn't be sure of anything. He just wanted to be alone, to think about all of this. He still couldn't quite take it in.

"Yami? What's wrong?"

"Bakura, that's Atem! And he's freaked out. We got picked up by what was left of the Leviathan. If you still don't think that's Atem, then listen: he recognized Yugi. And the Egyptian God Cards." Téa spoke as though that settled the matter.

Bakura blinked, then looked over at Yami. "Really?"

Yami was starting to lose his head. He wasn't sure he knew what to believe anymore. That he was just some kid, or a pharaoh. He groaned and clutched his head. "I don't know!" He staggered backward until he hit the wall of Yugi's neighbor's house. To his right was his way home, but everywhere else was a trap. He wasn't even sure his home wasn't a trap. "I don't know anymore." He repeated, shaking and sliding down. "Why would I erase my own memory? Why would I want to live in the streets if I was a pharaoh? Why, if that's not true, did I recognize things I haven't ever seen or heard of before?" The questions rushed out of him, but still surged through him. He wanted to get them out, so he wouldn't have to think about them, but they refused to leave.

"Why don't you ask Sessho? Isn't he the one you said raised you? You might just have asked him as a favor, or something."

Yami looked as though he was trying to escape from his own skin. He trembled and moaned, doubling over, still clutching his head. _There has to be something else… why me?_

Yugi crouched next to him. "Yami?" He whispered. Yami looked up. "I knew the pharaoh you used to be, and if you did do this to yourself, you would have had a _very_ good reason to do it, even if you don't know why anymore."

_I guess that means I really am. Sessho… I just want to hear it from you before it becomes concrete to me. If it was a good reason, maybe I told him. But then, depending on why, would it be wise for me to… go back?_ His shoulders slumped and he bowed his head. _But what if I was just running from my problems? It all depends on the reason…_

He got to his feet and started walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Téa asked suddenly, taking several paces towards him.

Yugi thrust out his arm, stopping her. "No, Téa. Let him go."

"But why?"

Yugi looked up at her. "He doesn't remember. So to him, he's probably in a world of strangers."


	17. Tryst p17

Yami sped up a little, fleeing around the corner. Once he was out of sight, he was granted wings.

"And when all of them seem to know him? At first he might think it's some kind of joke, or they have him mistaken for someone else, but once he starts doubting himself, it's got to be very frightening. No matter who you are."

"I guess. But I just wish…" She sighed and turned away. "Wait, Trys?" She looked over at Bakura. "You said he knows Trys, that girl in the news?"

"Yeah. And he was the one she 'helped into school'. That's all rubbish, though. See, back when she started school, she met Yami, who would come to the school for breaks during their recess. Soon she started bringing him lunch, because well, you can't get much out of trash cans, can you? Anyway, once she started making friends at school, she started to forget him. Then one day she didn't even bring lunch. Yami wasn't going to just go hungry waiting, so he left. She realized she'd forgotten, and tried to take lunch to him. Of course, that meant getting into the roughest part of town, in the alleys where all the gangs are. She got lost and in trouble, and he helped her."

"She tried ta get him lunch?" Joey asked, looking slightly amused.

"Yeah. She's my sister, so she explained something else to me about the circumstance… but that's her business. Anyway. He helped her get back to school, and ended up coming in with her. Now, this is a little confidential, but _their_ excuse is that Yami was going to make sure she made it to the nurse's office. She was cut up pretty bad before he got there. _I_ think it was because Yami wanted to hang out with her, like they used to. Anyway, the teachers there didn't much like him trespassing, and he escaped through a window." Bakura chuckled. "He gave himself a good set of memories to keep him on his feet, if you ask me."

"He got out through a _window_?" Mokuba started to laugh.

"But what about the attacking students thing?" Yugi asked suddenly, showing he still remembered some parts of what he'd thought was just some other story.

"You could answer that, Yugi. You know him the best, after all."

"I can't see him doing that…"

"Well, he didn't. That was just a rumor. He _did_ break the window, but that was all he did that could have been against them. And it was only because he was trapped with no other way out." Bakura shrugged.

"Who is Trys? I mean, I know she's your sister, but I didn't even know you had a sister." Téa said slowly.

Bakura glanced back at her. "She's the best artist I've ever seen. If I know Yami at all the way he is now, that's where he's headed. They're best friends, and if you ask me, it's a bit deeper than that." Bakura suddenly stared at her. "Wot, you like him? Is that it?"

Téa frowned. "He's my friend. I guess I just… nevermind. It's a girl thing."

"If you guys are done talking about the _relevant_ part, please tell me _before_ you start talking about the stupid stuff." Seto growled, starting away.

"Yah, go on, Rich-Boy. Keep walkin'. No one asked ya ta stay, anyway." Joey growled after him.

***

Yami didn't know the alleys back here as good as back home. So only a few minutes later, he was pinned in a dead end, with that gang descending on him.

The only problem was, he wasn't in his little network of gangs, who did things a little differently, let you pay to get out with baubles instead of pain. So he couldn't get out the way he usually did. _Why did it have to dump us off here?_ He thought desperately as he searched for any way out.

"Yer trespassin', Silvertongue. So ya gotta pay the price." The leader snarled, advancing.

'Silvertongue' was the other networks' names for his. This web was called the Alleyblood, and for no good reason. He took another step back, watching them. Alleyblood were rough, and once you trespassed, it was only a matter of time before they made you pay. And if they got him, who knew if they might take his deck, dueldisk, and…

_Trys… Sessho!_ He took another step back and yelled at the top of his lungs. "_SESSHO! ARE YOU OUT THERE?_"

Bakura turned towards the noise, faint and distant. "That's not good. From what he told me about being on the streets is don't draw attention to yourself. I doubt he'd be that eager to find out what's going on. We'd better help him." He sprinted away, shouting, "Sessho? Sessho!"

"What do we do?" Téa asked, looking at Yugi.

"Well, if he needs our help, then you help Bakura get Sessho. Joey and I will see if we can help Atem." Yugi nodded at Joey, and they tore away towards Yami's shouts.

Téa sighed, then turned the other way. "Sessho? Sessho, are you out there?"


	18. Tryst p18

The True Past

It was recess. Trys couldn't stand going back to that bench. Not with Yami gone. She sat by herself. She couldn't speak. Whatever had been stalking them that morning had taken him with it. And now… he was gone.

Bakura ran up. "Hey, Trys!"

"Bakura?" She looked up, startled. "But… what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to tell you something. And Yugi said I should tell you now, so you didn't have to…" He glanced around, then sat down next to her. "See, I can explain what happened to Yami. That thing that took him, it was the remainder of some Leviathan thing. Yugi stopped it, and freed him, and he went off looking for Sessho." He left out what he was sure Yami would want to tell her himself. "Only problem was, he ended up in a bad position. He lives around here, I guess, and the gangs in this area all know each other. But he was in another area that didn't like his area much. He said something about Silvertongue and Alleyblood… and something like that. Anyway, these Alleyblood guys cornered him, and he started yelling for Sessho. We tried to get help, and Yugi and Joey went to see what they could do while Téa and I helped him try to get Sessho. Alleyblood play rough, I guess, when someone's on their turf that shouldn't be. He got away from the Leviathan unharmed, but the Alleyblood put him in the hospital. That's where he is right now, and he's recovering fast. I didn't want you worrying."

"Thanks." She smiled, then reached into her pocket. "Here, take this to him when you get the chance. I can't exactly skip school, can I?"

"Wot is it?"

"He'll know."

***

A few days later, Yami stirred. All over, he ached, and he felt his right arm in a sling. He opened his eyes and shut them again instantly. The light was blinding.

"Atem?" Yugi sounded like he was nearby.

Yami tried to open his eyes again, and for a moment all he saw was the light. Finally, his eyes adjusted, and he looked around. "My name's Yami." He mumbled when he saw Yugi. "If I really am that pharaoh, then call me Yami until I remember it." He tried to sit up and fell back, wincing. "Where's my deck?" He looked around again, and saw it sitting on the table next to him. Only problem was, his nearest arm was in a sling, and his ribs felt broken. He didn't want to reach across them.

Yugi picked it up. "Here. I don't know if we got all the cards, Yami… They threw them across the alley before we got there, and your dueldisk was destroyed… Seto's making a new series, and you'll get one of those free."

Yami barely heard him. He grasped his deck and tried to flick through the cards. Dark Magician was on top, no doubt because the pharaoh liked it. Then Curse of Dragon, Dust Tornado, Fissure… he flicked through, rather terrified. _Where is it? Oh Trys, if I've lost it… I'll _never_ forgive myself!_

"What are you looking for?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Different Dimension Dragon." He muttered, moving Kuriboh off the top and scattering his deck over his lap. He let his head fall back with a groan. "That was Trys's favorite card." He winced as he picked up Magic Cylinder. _Still not the dragon. Come on…_ "Can you help me?" He asked, raising his head again to see Yugi.

"Sure." He gathered the cards and started to sort through them. They were all worse for wear after their trampling in the alley, but still in rather good condition. _Swords of Revealing Light, Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight… he's got plenty of cards from our old deck. Man, he may erase his memories, but he can't erase who he is._ Yugi smiled fondly, then stopped. _Dragon's Treasure? That's new… maybe because of Trys._

_Wait, that's the last card!_ Yugi looked back at the bed. He couldn't stall very much, or Yami might figure it out. But how could he…?

"Yugi? You're still here? Really. Gramps was getting worried about you."

"Oh, hey Duke! So, what are you up to?"

"I was coming to get you. Your grandpa's starting to flip. Come on." Duke had been watching from the door, unnoticed.

Yugi relaxed inwardly. "Sorry, Yami." He put the deck back and got up. "I'll be back later."

Yami closed his eyes. When the door closed behind Yugi, a tear slid down his cheek.


	19. Tryst p19

Sessho arrived later, granted permission through some papers he had pilfered to show he was Yami's 'guardian', to find his friend shaking uncontrollably, his free hand over his face.

"Yami!" He sat down quickly next to him, grabbing a cloth from next to his friend's deck in one hand, wrenching Yami's hand away with his other. "What have I told you about crying? It's not making anything better, and only draws attention, fool! Why?" He added, dabbing at his friend's cheeks with belying gentleness.

"It's gone." Yami breathed. "Her favorite card. Different Dimension Dragon." He shook his head. "How could I have been so careless?"

"A card? In here?" Sessho lifted the deck and started flicking through. "What does it look like?"

"It's light blue-green, with four wings. No legs. But it's not there… it's gone."

"What makes you so sure? And dry your eyes, Yami, crying isn't going to help get it back. How many times do I have to teach you that?"

Yami couldn't stop the tears, and didn't even try. "I promised I wouldn't ever lose it! And no replacement will do, I couldn't ever do that. Never." He tried to sit up again and this time succeeded in rising, only to be pushed gently back by a nurse as she came in to check on him. "Sessho, I lost it back in that alley!"

He finished looking through his friend's deck and stood. "I'll get it, but _try_ to remember what I taught you, Yami. I'll be back in a bit."

***

Sessho had to be careful. He knew the Alleyblood might be hanging around, and he couldn't afford to get sent to the hospital too. They might not be able to cover for him. Still, he had to get that card for Yami.

He thought back to when he had met him. It was strange, what he had done. There were two memories that fit that category. When he'd found Yami in a trash can, and when a stranger showed up, fighting away the Alleyblood in this very spot.

He hadn't been sure what to make of it. Someone who hardly knew him had saved him. Then he had explained why: he needed someone to help him erase his own memories. He had evil sheltering in his mind, and the longer he remembered them, the stronger they would become, until they could step out and threaten the world again. And someday, he might not be able to defeat them. So by locking away his memories, he would be able to lock away the evils. But he knew he would want to remember, and had to make sure he wouldn't even know he had a past that strong.

Sessho crouched, gazing around the alley.

_"So how are you going to do that, and how am I supposed to help?"_

_"I'll modify my memory. I'll need access to yours, but I swear I won't alter them in any way. Just so I can make it good enough to satisfy me. I'll give you ghost memories, similar to mine, in case I bring something up that never actually happened…" He'd looked like it was difficult._

A pharaoh, if he really is one, ought to… giving up his kingly heritage to keep evil at bay. I've never thought much about it, but plenty of things have happened to make me believe him._ "Okay. And Atem? Thanks. Thanks for busting me out. At least I can repay you."_

_"Thank you." He had taken a deep breath before the modifying began. Sessho could feel it in him, and could feel it in Atem, too. It had been strange. He was overlapping memories at first, in his own mind, so he would stay on track…_

_They were coming into the Alleyblood territory so Atem, now Yami, knew where it was. They were only staying for a minute, so Yami could recognize it later._

_Atem had been leaning against the wall. He'd even explained that– he got a sudden headache._

_"You okay, Yami?"_

_"Yeah, I'm fine." Yami had stood, and the last bit of the pharaoh had glimmered for a second in his eyes before winking out._

_I promised I'd help you. Gee, I never thought it'd come to this; I guess he's starting to remember again._ Sessho saw a card and flipped it over. _Well, it's not that dragon of his, but I'm guessing it's part of his deck. Weird for him to have this little puffball, but then again, it could be another gift of Trys's._

_Trys!_ He nearly stood from shock. _Trys could help. He warned me he might start to remember. Someone he really likes not connected to his past, not even me, might be able to keep him from remembering. That's what he said. Hey, is that it?_ He grabbed the card, then sighed. _No. D.D. Dark Sorcerer. Hey, but then, it might be in his deck too, and it looks strong._

Sessho had nearly given up when he saw it, mercifully spared, inside the busted dueldisk. It had been put in one of the slits for trap and spell cards. He popped it out, and the Different Dimension Dragon looked back up at him. _Found it. Great! Now for Trys._


	20. Tryst p20

Trys was walking in the park, having convinced herself she wouldn't want to see Yami just yet. _Give him time, just a little more time._ She sat down on a bench and watched some kids dueling for a while before she opened her folder to gaze at the picture of her and Yami on the bench, and wondered if Yami had seen it when he put her lunch in her locker. She had put it away rather hastily, and she wasn't sure if it had been secure. If he had, he knew how she felt about him.

And when he'd kissed her… She frowned, then pulled out her clipboard and a piece of paper, beginning her sketch. She was on her second drawing when Sessho appeared, and she hastily covered the images, thrusting them carefully into her folder. "Sessho! You startled me."

"That's okay. I came because someone wanted me to give you a message. He got that chain of yours." His mouth twitched. "And he said he wanted to see you."

"Yami?!" She jumped to her feet, pausing only to grab her clipboard. "He… he wants to see me?"

"Yeah. But he was asleep when he said it, with these exact words: 'I'm dead, and when the heck is that dragon gonna die? I wish she'd show up.'"

Trys stared at him for a long moment, then reached into her folder. Sessho stared at her. "It makes sense to you?"

"Yeah…" She said slowly, pulling out that image she had first shown Yami. It was similar, as she had given him the original, but it was still… "This… was the first picture I ever drew for him. I made a copy for myself to keep… but when Different Dimension Dragon dies, it gets removed from the game until the end of the battle phase. And I drew the world it would go to… and I drew a Dark Magician, his favorite monster, with it." She lifted it. "That's what he's talking about… Dark Magician being him… and the dragon me." _He meant he was in that world I created, waiting for me. Waiting for me!_ Trys shrugged and put it back. "But… if he wants to see me…"

"Right." Sessho nodded and started off. "Come on."

_I guess I'll be seeing him now after all._

***

Yami stirred as the nurse opened the door and entered, closing it behind her. "How are you feeling?" She asked kindly, noticing him awake.

He lifted his head. "Like I was a karate dummy for an hour." He replied, grinning. He'd said that the first and second times, and just got into the habit of saying it before saying how he really felt. He got the feeling she thought it was funny. He let his head fall back, feeling through his body. "My ribs don't ache so much." He said finally. "But my arm's stinging a lot now."

"Hm." She moved a flat screen over him, and his bones blazed blue under the special X-ray. "Looks like your ribs are mending. They should be healed by Sunday. Your arm doesn't look too good, though. Hm." She got another angle of it, then smiled. "It'd help if your arms weren't crossed, Yami."

"Sorry."

"I guess that's the problem. It looks fine. Well, still broken, but on the mend. Your muscles might just have a little bit of a problem interacting with your bones. That's all. I could help you with the pain, though."

"If it makes me sleepy, forget it. I'm thirsty."

She laughed. "That's easy to fix." She turned to leave. "I'll get a lunch for you. You still need to eat, anyway."

"Thanks." He let his eyes close, then opened them again and lifted his free arm, which still held the dragon. "Trys." He whispered. _Where are you?_

Two minutes later, the answer came right through the door.

"Yami!"

"Trys?" His eyes snapped open and he nearly sat up. He fell back again, but he was grinning. "Nice to see you." _Well, the dragon finally decided to die._ He looked down at the card in his hand, then back at her. "What took you so long?"

"We had trouble at the desk." Sessho chuckled, stepping aside as the nurse came back with Yami's lunch. "Nice lunch there, Yami. Almost, _almost_ makes me wish I'd break a leg."

They all laughed. "Why don't your friends help you eat, then, since they're here?" She offered, and finished her notes before leaving a moment later.

Yami raised his head again. "I'm thirsty at the moment, not hungry yet." He saw the tray and groaned. "A _baby_ bottle? I get a _baby_ bottle?"

"Well, I guess it makes it easier for someone like you to avoid spilling all over. You _are_ using your off hand, remember?" Sessho chuckled mischievously.

Trys sat down on the bed, holding the bottle. "Here." She tilted it into his mouth, and his hand reached up. He remembered the card and let it fall back, relaxing and sucking thirstily.

"Well, I gotta go. See ya." Sessho nodded to them and left, and they heard him laughing all the way down the hall. Yami ignored him, continuing to drink.


	21. Tryst p21

Téa came in a moment later. Trys jumped, and Yami sputtered, coughing. "Sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you or anything." She backed out again. "I'll come back later." She sounded rather stiff as she shut the door. _Well, Bakura _did_ say they might like each other like that… but it's so hard. I used to love him, and I'm not all that sure I don't still like him like that. I guess I was too indecisive, and another girl got him. I'm stuck with Yugi, but that isn't so bad. He's really sweet, and for a while, I loved him. And him, not Atem. Still… I just hope Rebecca won't beat me to the punch there too._

Trys stared at the door for a long moment, then said, "Do you know her?"

Yami glanced up at her. _No, don't tell her. I can forget everything when I'm with her. If she knew, she would think about it, and I'd think about it, and… I can't. I can't._ "She was one of the others in that thing that took me for a ride."

"Oh. Why's she coming to see you?"

"Well, I'm not sure. But she might have been trying to help me when I ran into… this." He glanced down at his broken arm. "I think I heard her shouting for Sessho, like I was." He shrugged. "But I barely know her. Why?"

Trys shook her head. "No reason. You still thirsty?"

"Yeah." His eyes closed slowly as he drank. Finally, he nodded, and she lifted it. "Thanks, Trys."

She felt like he was thanking her for more than just helping him with his drink, but didn't ask what. If he wanted to forget it, then she shouldn't bring it up. "You're welcome. Are you hungry?"

He cocked his head, considering that. "Sort of. But it's more to see some of your drawings." He reached one hand slowly behind his head, leaving the dragon on his chest. "Can you show me some?"

"Sure." She looked a little surprised, but nodded and smiled, going into her folder.

She left him sleeping two hours later.

***

Yami woke to find Yugi beside him. He looked over at him.

"So… you're awake."

"Yeah."

"You've got your dragon now, I see."

"Yeah." Yami glanced down. It was still resting on his chest. He lifted it. "Yeah." He said again. He looked up to see Yugi looking through his deck.

"I was wondering, Yami… do you want to duel? I mean, it'd be without the dueldisks, of course, but it might help. You loved to duel, before I mean."

Yami shrugged. "Do I have enough cards?"

"Well, you're one card short. You can have one of mine, Yami." He held the deck up again, flipping it so Yami could see the cards, and slowly flicked through them. "Do you remember which one you're missing?"

"My dragon?"

"No, I counted that."

Yami frowned, trying to sit up again to see the cards better. He ached only a little now, though his arm was starting to sting stronger than ever. "I don't… Polymerization. I'm missing Polymerization." _Now I can't summon D.D. Dark Sorcerer. Still… I… can… at least I still have Different Dimension Dragon._

"Huh." Yugi held his deck out. "Well, I have two, so, you can keep the second one."

"Thanks." Yami took it back. "It'll be interesting with one arm in a sling like this." He struggled for a moment, then fell back, wincing. "On second thought, I'm hungry." He glanced over at the side table. "Can you help me?"

"Sure." Yugi picked up the tray and set it in his lap. "What do you want first?"

"The chicken. That looks good."

"Okay." Yugi cut a small piece and stuck it on his fork, holding it out for Yami, who took it.

"Thanks." He swallowed the chicken almost as soon as he put it in his mouth, and held the fork out again.

Yugi stared at it, then put a larger piece on it before handing it back. And almost immediately got it back, empty. "Yeah, you are hungry. You want the whole chicken?"

Yami laughed. "Sure. I don't usually eat with a fork anyway."

Yugi held out the plate, and the chicken almost immediately disappeared. Yami's mouth was stuffed when he looked, but it seemed almost like he blinked and the food was magically gone. "I guess you don't. I doubt people throw away forks regularly, and never clean."

"Yeah. This is great; I only wish they'd given me a bigger piece. Uh… the apple."

"Here."

A minute later the core was on the plate, picked down to the seeds and stem. Yugi stared at him. "You know, I've never seen anyone eat that… quickly. And I know Joey, the food-chomping king. What next?"

"The corn?"

"Okay, but be careful. It's gonna be harder to eat with your hand… Or that works too…"

Yami handed the bowl back a moment later. "I'm still hungry."

"You've eaten everything on the plate in under five minutes! Shouldn't you wait and see if that's enough?"

"I know how much I need to eat, and I usually eat fast anyway. I'll still be hungry, even if I wait."

Yugi stared down at the tray. "Well…" He set it back on the table. "I'll see if I can get you something."


	22. Tryst p22

"I play Polymerization to fuse my Different Dimension Dragon to my Dark Magician." Yami pulled aside the two cards and put the Dark Sorcerer on the field.

"Great! Let's see…"

"Yami?" Trys opened the door and stopped short. "Who are you?"

"Oh, hey. I'm Yugi." Yugi drew a card. "We're dueling. But I guess you can see that."

"Yeah. So you're Yugi? Bakura's told me about you." She came over to the chair, which Yugi had abandoned for the other side of the bed, now that Yami was sitting up. "Hey, that's the D.D. Dark Sorcerer!"

"Yeah. I _just_ summoned it."

"Neat. I'll just watch, then."

***

"That was a great duel, Yami." Yugi gathered up his cards.

"I had fun too." He felt exhausted, and nearly didn't wait for Yugi to move before he slid down again, grasping the Different Dimension Dragon.

Yugi grinned. "Well, I have to go, so I'll see you later, Yami."

"Bye." He mumbled, and waited for the door to close before he looked over at Trys. "He's just like Téa, only he was the one who stopped that thing."

"Oh." Trys smiled quietly at him. "So how are you?"

"Fine. But do you have any more drawings?"

Her smile widened and she nodded.

***

It was the middle of the night. Yami had awoken to the sting in his arm. Someone else was in the room, watching from the shadows. He raised his head. "Who's there?" He hissed.

_"Why, an old friend, Pharaoh. Too bad you don't remember me. I'm just enjoying seeing you so low."_

Yami flinched and struggled to sit up. "Who are you?"

_"Honestly."_ A spirit stepped out of the shadows. He looked remarkably similar to Bakura.

But suddenly Yami knew he wasn't. He was… "Zorc?" A shiver ran through him. If he had erased his memories, then how come he was remembering things?

_"Interesting."_ Zorc chuckled. _"The more you remember, the stronger the evil in your memories become. That's why you erased them; you were trying to lock away all the darkness. But you're remembering, and we're getting stronger, soon strong enough to return to the world. That's how the Leviathan returned, and you haven't seen the last of him. Or me."_ He chuckled again. _"Sweet dreams, Pharaoh." _He twitched his fingers.

Yami fainted, swallowed by darkness.

***

Sessho couldn't stand it anymore; he had to tell them before they awoke more memories in Yami. He knew there were already a dangerous amount, enough for that beast thing to gather even a few souls. "Yugi, can I talk to you?"

"Uh, sure." Yugi turned aside, nonplussed.

"I want to talk to all of you, actually."

"Okay."

"Right."

"What'cha wanna talk about, Sessho?"

"Well, Yami. See, you guys probably figured this out, but he has a bit to do with me. I'll explain it to you guys… I have to."

"Well, what is it, Sessho?"

He sat down, and they sat down or stood nearby. "See, about a year ago, I was in that very same alley, in that very same position, in trouble with the Alleyblood. And a stranger busted me out. It was Yami, but before he'd erased his memories. He said he needed my help, and that's why he helped me. He gave me 'ghost' memories so I could help him forget, help him think he was… well. He said he had figured out that evil lived in his memories, and the longer he remembered them, the stronger they would become, and before long, they would be able to emerge again. Sure, he'd defeated them before, but he felt there might be a time when he messed up, and he didn't want to take that chance. And that's how that thing came back– he's slowly remembering his past. We have to keep him from doing that… or at least, if he remembers, we have to make sure he remembers everything all at once or not at all."

***

Yami sat bolt upright, sweating and shaking. His dreams hadn't been pleasant. It took him a full minute to remember he was at the hospital. _How do you forget something like that? You can't… so how do you keep it from becoming _real_?_ His sling was to be removed today, though he would keep the cast. He'd be let out of the hospital tomorrow morning.

_How did it happen the first time? I wasn't remembering anything._ He thought suddenly, then tried to remember back. _I'd had my first Christmas… But there was literally nothing different to me. Was it Bakura? He seemed to know them, and the pharaoh… me…_

_But how could that turn into the Leviathan? I wasn't… I couldn't… I had no idea of who I really was._

_And another question: if everyone I knew lived here, then why on Earth did I stay here, of all places? It would have been so much easier to have nearly the same life in New York or Los Vegas or… something like that._

_It might not be memories, then. But… then… how… did it come back? Or what if it was something about the spell, that I had to stay here? But that doesn't make any sense. What if I wanted to be able to remember? Was there something I might want to remember if this started to happen?_

_So many questions…_


	23. Tryst p23

"How are you feeling, Yami?" The nurse came in with another tray of breakfast foods.

"To be honest, confused and terrified." He shrugged. "My arm still stings." He added, frowning.

"Well, it might. But the operation is painless, and you'll be asleep for most of it. You'll be fine." She set the tray on his table. "Do you want to eat first?"

Yami didn't bother to talk about his nightmares. She probably had plenty of people who talked about them, and she seemed to think he was afraid of the operation. "I think I'll go with an empty stomach and eat after. But I'll want a lot of food."

"Okay. I'll get more, then." She smiled and left.

He stared down at his arm, then up into the shadows. Zorc was standing there, grinning at him, and his grin widened as Yami looked up. _"So, you ready to face the world again?"_

"Shut up." Yami's growl quavered slightly, and he looked away. Zorc just laughed.

Trys appeared, and Zorc faded away instantly. Yami had never been so relieved to see her. "Good morning, Yami! I heard you're taking your sling off today, so I thought I'd stop by to say hello." She noticed him looking paler than usual and came over to sit down on the edge of the bed. "What's up, Yami? Did you have a bad dream?"

He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Trys… thanks. Thanks for being here. It means the world to me."

She took his hand. "I'm glad you feel that way, Yami. But what's bothering you?"

He moved closer and laid his head on her shoulder. "It doesn't matter, now that you're here." _Nothing matters anymore. She drives away the darkness, and that's all I want right now._

_Someone to chase away the shadows._ He closed his eyes as she stroked his hair.

_He was terrified of something… But he said it didn't matter now that I'm here. Does that mean he feels the same way about me that I feel about him?_ She wondered as she gazed down at him, in her arms. She shifted him around a little, and put her hand on his chest. "And I'll always be with you, in here. Always. No matter what happens."

He looked up at her. _I can forget anything with her here. Anything. I can just drift away… not care anymore… let the Blood Fever consume me… drift… away…_ His eyes closed again, slowly, and she felt his heart slow to a steady pulse beneath her fingers.

The doctors arrived a few hours later. Trys had gone, and he was sitting up, staring at a card in his hands. He looked up. "Are you ready?" One asked kindly.

"No, but let's get it over with." He growled, settling back down again, and laid the card on his chest. "Okay."

***

Several times throughout the operation, he woke, or at least stirred, and they would give him more. But they were getting worried; he was getting more than was usually necessary, and creeping towards too much. He couldn't keep waking like this.

They had just reached the critical part– it wasn't really vital, but it was the most painful part, and necessary to have the bones knit the right way. As soon as it started, he was in constant semi-consciousness. He stirred and groaned, and Zorc seized his chance, trying to take control.

Yami fought him off, but the pain was splitting his concentration, and the Leviathan wanted control too. And another, Marik. Or at least, his dark side. Yami felt pain on both sides and snarled as they hit. He could sense he was strong enough to hold them off, but did he have enough endurance to keep going? It hurt, so much…

An evil Dartz appeared in his mind, whispering insidious words to him… Zorc was taunting him… Marik was laughing at him… Leviathan was clawing at him… It was like they were cutting into his back. He gasped and yelled, gritting his teeth to hold it in. Another snarl ripped his throat, and he arched his back. The pain in his arm was multiplying.

The doctors gave him more, only a little more. He felt sluggish, and tried to resist it. He was still conscious, conscious of the pain in his arm, of the pain inflicted by the shadows of his past… He arched his back right off the bed, and rolled onto his side. His arm was still out, pinned, but it felt like it was exploding with pain. He woke suddenly and lay there, chest rising and falling rapidly, temporarily blinded by the images of those spirits, who couldn't attack anymore.

_Why not?_ The answer came to him almost automatically. He was far too powerful awake for them to try. He gasped again as the pain tripled, and his free hand slowly reached behind his back, as though expecting it to be damp with blood. It was damp, but only with sweat. He sighed and relaxed, rolling back onto it, gazing up at the ceiling, still breathing hard.

"Uh, are you okay? Do you want to sleep?"

He shook his head vigorously. "No thanks."


	24. Tryst p24

It still hurt, but he reveled in it, as it kept him awake and sharp. Once it was over, he fell back, gasping and sweating, as the whole time he had kept his teeth gritted against the pain and the scream in his throat.

He hissed out and sucked in, gazing at the ceiling, feeling beads of sweat sliding down his body. They left, leaving the nurse behind to dab at his forehead and cheeks.

He let his eyes close as the wet cloth brushed over his face, cool and comforting after the heat and pain. He even let his mind picture Trys there, instead of the nurse, and he relaxed.

Trys, who had seen the doctors coming out of his ward, quickly ran forward, asking, "Is it over? Oh man, I had wanted to… thanks." She sped past them and entered.

Yami lay in the bed, his eyes closed, as the nurse was rewetting the cloth. Trys quickly approached, though quietly, and the nurse smiled, passing the cloth to her and exiting silently.

She bent over him and stroked his cheek with it, wiping away the sweat with gentle fingers. He blinked, frowning, and realized that Trys had replaced the nurse. At first, he thought he was hallucinating, that thinking about her had made his mind change the nurse into her, but when she spoke, all the doubt vanished.

"Are you okay, Yami?"

He nodded, then winced as another bolt of pain shot through his arm. She blinked, then looked down at it, and lifted it in her hands. "It's all right, I'm here."

He winced again, fingers jerking suddenly.

She stroked his hand, what she could touch, with the splint in the way, and started to sing. "Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry… sleep like you're rocked by the stream… sleep and remember, my lullaby… and I'll be with you when you dream…" She sat down next to him, gathering him into her arms. He didn't resist, letting her draw him close.

"Drift on a river, that flows through my arms… drift as I'm singing to you… I see you smiling, so peaceful and calm, holding you I'm smiling too… here in my arms, safe from all harm, holding you I'm smiling too…" His eyes started to close, but as though it were defying his peace, his arm blazed with pain, and he winced.

She took it again in one hand and clenched it gently, still smiling. "Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry… sleep like you're rocked by the stream… sleep and remember, this river lullaby… I'll be with you when you dream…" She ran her fingers down his arm. "Here in my arms, safe from all harm, holding you I'm smiling too…"

The pain died away, and his eyes drifted shut again, but this time the pain didn't return. "Sleep and remember, this river lullaby… I'll be with you when you dream… sleep and remember, this river lullaby… I'll be with you when you dream… I'll be with you… when you dream…" She stroked his cheek, then kissed it. He slept on, a smile on his lips. She held him close, rocking back and forth very slightly, when she noticed the dragon she had given him.

It was slightly crumpled, next to his hand, and she had a feeling it had been clenched in his fist during the operation. She smiled and picked it up. Yami shifted slightly, but didn't wake.

Trys gazed at the card for a long time. Yami stirred again, and she started to hum the lullaby, though she was still staring at the card. It looked like it had been through a lot. Surely not all that grit had come from the sweat in his hand during the operation. _That he still has it… as a token of our friendship…_ She looked back at the table, and his deck sat there. _It looks like the other cards are just as worn. If not as crumpled._ She smiled again. _I'm glad he enjoys my gift._

She stroked him one last time, then laid him back on the bed and got up. _I wish I didn't have to go._ She sighed and looked down at the dragon again. _If he wants to keep it…_ She placed it carefully next to the other ones.

When the door closed, the card twitched. It could have been the air from the air conditioner. It could have been imperfectly balanced. It could have been nothing. But either way, it twitched.

And Yami's fingers had twitched at exactly the same moment.

***

Yami stirred several hours later, in the dead of night. The only light came from the machines monitoring his health remotely.

He let his eyes adjust before he sat up. Slowly, he shifted for the side of the bed. And almost as though he had expected it, he stood, and stood strong, even after all that time lying still. The window was curtained, but he found it through instinct. He pushed aside the curtain and gazed up. The stars were blocked by clouds, and the moon barely shone through.

_A dark night. That's good… or at least, it used to be. People feared the dark night, but it was because of people on the streets… they usually found something good on dark nights._ He shrugged and turned away, back to his bed. He was still tired, and he knew this was the last chance he would have to sleep in a real bed for a while.

_What was that song she sang? It was beautiful._ He hummed snatches of it, all he remembered, and sighed, lying down again, on his free side, bringing his broken arm up to his face. _Why does it still hurt? And why does all the pain go away when Trys is here?_ He sat up, casting around suddenly, terrified. _Where's that card? I left it here… Where is it?_

He sighed with relief, seeing it on the table. _At least it's not elsewhere._ He picked it up, then laid it back, nodding sleepily as he slid back onto the bed.

_"Trys isn't good. Whenever he's even thinking about her we can't do a thing. He mustn't find that out, and we have to keep him from thinking about her. First is to break them up."_ Zorc glanced over at the evil Dartz. _"I hate to admit it, but I think you're the best for this kind of job."_

He nodded, and they faded back into the shadows once more, leaving Yami sleeping peacefully, undisturbed.


	25. Tryst p25

The Cursed Past

That morning the nurse woke him gently, saying, "Yami, whenever you're ready, you can leave."

He blinked and stared at the ceiling for a moment, then sat bolt upright, startled.

"It's okay, you're in the hospital." She said quickly, and he relaxed.

"Yeah." He muttered, then picked up his deck and the dragon. "I'll go now." He yelled and stumbled to his knees, clutching his arm. Like fire, it exploded, and for a moment he forgot everything but the pain. As he swayed down, though, he slammed his head against the side of the bed and knocked himself unconscious.

Images and memories flooded through him. _Five thousand years ago, when he was pharaoh… Zorc… his Millennium Puzzle… the price he had to pay…_

_Five years ago, when he was reborn in Yugi's soul as Yugi finished the Millennium Puzzle… fighting him… fighting by his side… Pegasus… Yugi's friends… Marik… the Egyptian Gods… their connection to his past… Dartz… the Orichalcos… the Leviathan… his own darkness… his memories… the ultimate Shadow Game… Zorc… his name…_

Atem…

***

His eyes snapped open again. He was on a different bed, one with restraints, and he was being held down. He lifted his head, staring wildly around, and saw his own arm, exposed and mangled. Another surge of pain shot through him and he yelled. People were running around him, machines were closing on his arm, and all his memories were bursting free.

His arm healed quite suddenly, and he gasped. Shadows burst from him and he doubled over, ripping up the restraints and clutching his head. _No! How could I let this happen?!_ He shook. _Now the evil's out again! What is _wrong_ with me?!_

Yells and screams erupted from the doctors as the evil fled for the streets to cause more evil, more damage, more hate. Atem chased them, whipping out his deck. _It's not perfect, but it should be good enough to hold them until Yugi can… How is it that I can't do _anything_ right without him telling me what to do?_

He threw himself out the door after them, whipping up his Dark Magician. "I summon you!" He paused and flicked through his deck. _Great. The only strong monster is that. But fused with this… Trys._ His hand hesitated as he lifted the two cards he needed. _I'm sorry, Trys. You'll be my friend, but nothing more._

"Fuse with Different Dimension Dragon and protect these people!" He drew Curse of Dragon, Swift Gaia, and Kuriboh. _Swords of Revealing Light may hold them for a minute. Yugi, where are you?_

He played the cards and monsters leapt up around his darkness. He relaxed, sighing, as they beat furiously against it. He stiffened again, looking around. _Yugi! Where _are_ you?_

The creatures suddenly braced themselves and he spun. Zorc had transformed into his giant form, and the Leviathan had changed as well. Marik was a cloud of shadow with evil eyes, and Dartz was fused to his beast. They threw themselves against the swords, and he had a sudden feeling they would break. He braced himself, and they shattered a moment later.

"No!"

His monsters tensed.

"Afraid so, Pharaoh. Did you think you could trap us with your feeble spell? There's nothing you can do to stop us!" Zorc laughed and Atem was thrown backwards off his feet.

"You've grown weak, Pharaoh. Now feel your own medicine!" Dartz laughed from atop his Leviathan, and the swords clashed down around him and his monsters.

"No!" He took a step backward, startled, and looked down at his deck. _There's nothing else in there to keep them at bay! What do I do?_ He thrust out a card, and Magic Cylinder bounced one attack right back at them. But that only set them back slightly. _They can still destroy everything, and I'm trapped…_

He slid to his knees, wincing.

_"Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry… sleep like you're rocked by the stream…"_ The lullaby came back to him as he knelt there. He frowned. _That's odd… why am I thinking about that?_

_"Sleep and remember, my lullaby… and I'll be with you when you dream…"_

He looked up, eyes dull with inner pain. Trys was next to him, her hand on his shoulder, singing. But even as he looked, she faded. He frowned again, confused, and looked over at his monsters. They were holding the darkness at bay… or was it them?

There was a Blue Eyes there too, and a Dark Magician Girl.

_And the Egyptian Gods. But how? Yugi… and Kaiba…_

_"Drift on a river, that flows through my arms… drift as I'm singing to you…"_

He winced and hung his head. _I can't do anything. They have to help. Have to make sure I don't mess up. Have to correct my mistakes. I'm Pharaoh by name, but it's Yugi who has all the power of one. I'm nothing._

_"Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry… sleep like you're rocked by the stream…"_

Yugi yelled and Atem's head jerked up. Zorc had blasted him against the side of a car fifty feet from where he'd started. Atem felt a surge of hatred flow through him, but a whisper, much like Dartz' voice, hissed, _You'll just mess everything up. Didn't you learn your lesson last time?_

_"Sleep and remember, this river lullaby… I'll be with you when you dream…"_ The song drifted away, and he looked down again.

_I can't. I can't do anything._ He shut his eyes, and his fists clenched. _Nothing. That's all I am, and that's all I can do._

"PHARAOH!" Yugi screamed. "PHARAOH, YOU HAVE TO HELP! WE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!"

He looked up, and Yugi saw how broken he was inside. "_Please_, Pharaoh! Help!"

Atem twitched weakly, and his eyes were drawn to the swords, which had faded. The Dark Magician Girl flew backwards and disappeared, destroyed. The Blue Eyes was grappling with the Leviathan, along with Obelisk. They weren't strong enough, it was easy to tell. The other two Egyptian Gods weren't doing good either. Zorc was holding them off with ease. And his own monsters weren't strong enough to hold back Marik.

_What can I do?_

_Nothing, _Pharaoh_. Nothing._

For all the complexity of the pharaoh's mind, Dartz had him wrapped around his finger.


	26. Tryst p26

Atem winced as a dark thought came in, more helpful than any other thought so far, ironically. _It can't get any worse than this, can it? I can't possibly make it worse._

He got to his feet and looked through his deck again. It felt empty in his hands, and slid through his fingers. _I'm sorry, Trys. I'm sorry, Yugi. I can't._

"You can do this!" Yugi was making his way slowly forward now, ignoring the fight, even as the Egyptian Gods made a pile and the Blue Eyes topped them.

Atem looked up again, almost unwillingly, to meet Yugi's eyes. Yugi winced, but kept going. "You just have to trust me, if you can't trust yourself to. _Please_, Pharaoh! You created it, you can destroy it!"

The Leviathan turned and blasted Yugi back, slamming him into the wall of another building, where he slid down, unconscious.

"Are you going to just _stand_ there?!" Seto yelled at him, trying another approach as his Blue Eyes took flight again and the Egyptian Gods faded. "I knew you'd fallen, but I didn't think _that_ far! You just released a lot of evil, aren't you going to try to do something about it? Or are you too weak to do anything without Yugi holding your hand?!" He realized instantly that only hurt.

Atem slid back to his hands and knees, face hidden, shaking with silent sobs. _He's always insulting me to make me stronger, but this time I don't have the pride to fight back, to become strong enough to… Whether he meant to or not, he spoke truthfully. Too truthfully._

He winced again, then stared, transfixed, by the card lying there before him. The Different Dimension Dragon. _Trys._ He sat back, picking it up. _Trys. I can forget anything with you around._

_But you're not here. You left because you had to go._

_No, she's still here, remember?_

He brought his hand to his chest, and a tear splashed the card.

_She's here. In here. Always with me, just like Yugi. Who am I to back out on them? Even if I can't do anything, at least I can try. You fail when you don't try, not when your try didn't succeed. Keep going, even when things are against you._

_Keep going. Keep fighting._ He tensed, and got to his feet. _Right. Yugi's deck had the Egyptian Gods. I could try fusing them again…_ He glared up at Zorc and the Leviathan, then sprinted forward, racing to Yugi's side. His monsters leaped up, creating a barrier between his enemies and himself, so that he had more time.

As soon as they realized what he was after, they sprang forward, trying to attack. _Let's try this again._ He thought, and whipped up Swords of Revealing Light. The swords slowed them down for a few seconds before they shattered, but that was a few seconds more than he would have had. _Maybe even enough to get the Egyptian God Cards._

He threw himself forward, mind focused on only one point. Seto whipped out more monsters to help him as his own were flattened. _Come on…_ He thought furiously. _Just a little further…_

He was blasted off his feet the moment he reached Yugi. Blasted upwards, then backwards, back to where he had started, feet away from the hospital.

_Well, I tried._ He thought vaguely as he lay there, gazing up at the sky. _I tried._

He didn't even notice his other friends show up, each pulling out their own duel monsters to defend him and Yugi, and the rest of the world.

_I tried. I just didn't succeed._

_Keep going._

_I can't. I tried already: I can't._

"Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry… sleep like you're rocked by the stream…" He felt someone picking him up and blinked, opening his eyes. Trys was there, and this time she didn't fade. "Yami?"

The world faded instead.

"Please, keep singing." He mumbled as he let everything fade with the world.

"Sleep and remember, my lullaby… and I'll be with you when you dream… Drift on a river, that flows through my arms… drift as I'm singing to you… I see you smiling, so peaceful and calm, holding you I'm smiling too… here in my arms, safe from all harm, holding you I'm smiling too…" His eyes started to close.

_Yugi…_ A tear started down his cheek, and he shook.

"Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry… sleep like you're rocked by the stream… sleep and remember, this river lullaby… I'll be with you when you dream…" She wiped away his tears, and he shut his eyes, turning his face into her shirt. "Here in my arms, safe from all harm, holding you I'm smiling too… sleep and remember, this river lullaby… I'll be with you when you dream… sleep and remember, this river lullaby… I'll be with you when you dream… I'll be with you… when you dream…"

Zorc, the Leviathan, and Marik disappeared, no longer supported by his memories.


	27. Tryst p27

Only a small part, right outside the hospital, had been damaged, and luckily, there were only a few casualties. Yugi only had a few large bruises for his rough treatment, nothing that wouldn't clear up in a couple weeks. Seto had broken _a_ rib. Joey had a cut over his eye, and Bakura had two black ones. But other than that, there were only the people unlucky enough to have been nearby, and then, they were lucky anyway that they weren't hurt worse. Téa ran to Yugi, where her other friends were, all checking up on him.

Then, she turned. Trys had Atem in her arms, belying her size by carrying him like a mother would a babe.

"Is he okay?" She asked quickly, starting forward.

Trys nodded, then hesitated. "Well, we could have a problem."

"What?" They all looked up at that statement.

She sighed. "You don't need to tell me who he is, but that's not the point. I don't know how it happened, but I got a vision of his thoughts, and he has a really bad case of self-doubt. And a lot of despair." _He certainly looked it… pleading for me to sing to him…_

Yugi opened one eye. "That's not good."

"No, it's not, but why do I feel that you mean something else?" Trys didn't seem the least surprised that Yugi was actually conscious.

"He always had a problem with that, ever since he stopped nudging my hand when I first really met him. And I'm betting he's had problems with it before. But I've always helped him be strong… and he's done the same for me. It'll take a lot of talking to get him back up to his usual standards if it's even half of what it was during the battle."

Trys shrugged. _Well, I'm done interfering for the moment._ The real Trys didn't feel any different, just thought slightly different.

_Where do I put him? I can't carry him like this all the time…_

As though in answer, Seto's men came with a limo, and Mokuba shot out. "Seto, are you okay? What happened?"

"Don't worry about me, Mokuba. These guys will need a lift home." Seto growled, getting to his feet. "Get in, all of you."

"Sweet! Thanks, Kaiba." Joey helped Yugi up and to the back seats. Téa got in behind them, and Trys put Atem in first before climbing in behind him.

"Everyone set? Great. Let's go!" Mokuba closed the door, and the driver started off. "Yugi's house first, I guess, if that's alright."

There were collective shrugs, and no one argued. The driver turned down another street and continued.

"So, this means he remembers everything now." Yugi said slowly, trying to think out what the next step was, and tallying up what he knew. "Now, from what Sessho told us that Atem told him is that the evil is as strong as he remembers them. Somehow, he just remembered everything, and luckily Kaiba and I were in the area. But now that he remembers, that means the evil will just keep coming back, and we can't count on you to be able to sing him to sleep _every_ time. How'd you do that, anyway, Trys?"

She gave the sleeping pharaoh a sidelong glance. "I'm not sure how I can explain it, but I think his self-doubt helped, in a way. I don't know where I got that lullaby, but both times I sang it to him he fell asleep almost as soon as I started singing." She shrugged again. "After what I just saw, it could be some kind of magic singing through me or something."

Yugi smiled.

"But if it's magic, then what does it do? Other than put him to sleep, I mean. What if it does something else, too?" Téa asked nervously.

"Well, I may not like this kind of talk, but I might as well help out. What does he do when you sing that song?" Seto asked unexpectedly.

"Well, goes to sleep." She replied, looking rather blank. "I haven't noticed anything else…" She tried to think back. "Well, he _does_ sleep a lot more deeply than he usually does…"

"How do you know that?" Mokuba asked, looking confused.

She blinked, then looked quickly out the window. "Please don't ask, Mokuba." She was blushing deeply, and wanted to hide it for a moment. "I just know, okay?"

"What else?" Seto growled, even though he really wanted to back out of the conversation now. It was obviously starting towards a love story, and he hated that kind of nonsense.

"I don't know, actually." The blush went down, and she was able to look back as though nothing had happened. "I haven't really been paying attention."

"Well, if there's anything else, now is the time to find out." Yugi started, looking slightly worried. "We need to know if it does anything bad to him, because it's the only way to keep the evil at bay while he still remembers it until we can find a way to remove whatever curse is on his memories."

Trys nodded. "I don't want to hurt him any more than you do." She seemed about to continue, but ended up shaking her head and looking away. Then she turned again, as though changing her mind. "I'm the only one who knows the words, but I can't always be around in case he wakes up, if we are going to stick with that. My parents already suspect me of plenty of mischief and I don't want to pile more on it: I might not be let out at all."

"That could be a problem." Yugi admitted.

"I won't be able to bring him home, because they won't understand, they'll think their suspicions are confirmed. And I can't stay out too long, or too often, or they'll just think the same thing. And we can't risk him waking up until we can get another way to either keep him down or eradicate the curse."

"A big problem."

They sat in silence for a while, until the driver pulled up in front of Yugi's house.

They all went inside to continue their discussion. Trys laid Atem on Yugi's bed and sat down next to him, still thinking.

"I've got an idea. Why don't you teach the song to us? That way, we'll be able to sing it for the pharaoh if we have to." Téa said, leaning against the adjacent wall.

Trys shook her head.

"I'm not sure it'll work that way, Téa." Yugi said, sighing. "Besides, I doubt it would sound right if it was me or Kaiba, or Mokuba. And it might not have the same effect when you're singing it. Power is a very fickle thing; you can't predict it. I'm not saying it wasn't a good idea… it's just you don't want to chance it with this kind of stuff, Téa."

Joey looked rather blank as he said, "I've got an idea."

"That's amazing, Wheeler."

"Shut it, Rich-Boy." Joey growled, then said, "Why don' ya just use ya toys ta make a hologram ta pose as Trys fer her parents, so she c'n stay wid the pharaoh."

They all stared at him.

"It was just an idea." He muttered.

Seto was for once at a loss for words. But when Joey made his last statement, he seemed to come to just enough to speak. And he didn't sound like Seto at all. "Joey, that's the smartest thing you've ever come up with."


	28. Tryst p28

Ka-Style Healing

Atem stirred slowly, but before he could fully wake, the lullaby came through to him, and he faded back into darkness again.

He didn't know how many times that happened, or how much time passed, but once, he woke, and there was no music. It was dark, so maybe Trys was asleep. He sat up to find her sleeping in a chair nearby. "Trys?" He whispered through the darkness, and she stirred.

"Yami? Is everything alright?" She asked, getting up and walking to the bed, sitting down opposite him.

_She still doesn't know… no, I can't tell her. But I can't lie to her either… I…_ She touched his forehead and he relaxed, laying back again.

She sat down next to him. A trail of darkness was starting to rise from him again, and he winced. "Trys…"

She didn't appear to notice it, but started humming the lullaby. The trail stopped advancing, and just swayed there, unable to continue. She stroked his forehead, and he felt the affection come over him again. She drove away the darkness, she let him forget everything…

"Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry…" She murmured, and he faded back into darkness.

***

Trys's spirit could only nudge her so hard to find the answer. If she was any stronger, Trys would surely notice. And for now, it was best that she didn't. Trys did dwell on the history of the Shadow Games a lot, though.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt like there was something in the Shadow Games that would help. Finally, she asked Yugi about it. He had come in with her breakfast several days later, and she put it on the table.

"How is he?"

"Fine. There was only that one time, a few days ago, where he nearly got it out again, but he woke me up in time to put him to sleep again. I've been catching Z's every chance I get since then, usually for an hour or so. I don't want to slip up until we get an answer."

"Me neither. It was scary enough the first time. Man, those were our toughest opponents, each one worse than the last. I don't think we could have stopped them if you hadn't put Atem to sleep."

"Still… I've been thinking. For some reason I keep thinking about these Shadow Games you guys have been talking about. Maybe it's like this lullaby I know… why I'm thinking about it, I mean, but maybe there's something in the Shadow Games that'll help. Or at least give us some information."

"Great idea. All the stuff about the Shadow Games are at the museum. I'll check on it. Maybe there is something."

"Thanks."

Atem stirred, and Trys immediately set her tray aside, coming over and singing softly. Once he was asleep again, though, she looked back. "We'll need to feed him some time, Yugi. No one should go too much longer without something to eat."

"I guess so. Is there anything specific you think I should get?"

"A bottle… one of those ones you suck on. And food you can put in that kind of thing."

"Okay…" Yugi mumbled, and left. "I don't think we have any, so we'll have to buy it, but if it helps Atem, then great."

"Thanks."

***

Trys took the bottle and thanked Yugi again.

"No problem. Just tell me if you need anything else. Well, I guess I'd better get to those history things, though. The sooner we find out how to get that curse out of his memories the better." He shrugged. "So just ask my grandpa, I guess."

"I will. Thank you, Yugi."

After he left, she moved around so she had Atem in her arms again, and lifted the bottle to his lips. He felt it and stirred, blinking slowly. "Hungry, Yami?"

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Several days. Here, hush." She offered it, and his mouth closed over it. She sang softly to him as he drank, and he sank into an obedient stupor, sucking dreamily on the bottle. When he had finished, she lowered him back again, murmuring, "Do you want more?"

"Yes…" He mumbled, and she continued singing to him as she filled the bottle again.

They repeated it twice more before he had his fill. Halfway through, he slowed down, until he wasn't drinking anymore, just sleeping. She smiled and put the drink back on the desk, returning to her own breakfast.

_Well. Now he won't starve. But we're not in the clear yet, not by a long shot._ Both souls thought literally the same thing, word for word.

***

Yugi searched for some shred of anything, but nothing showed up anywhere in the history of the Shadow Games that could help. Trys continued to keep the pharaoh in something like an endless dream, trying to find anything that could be hurting him. Other than his guaranteed sleep, there didn't seem anything supernatural.

_He can't keep sleeping like this. He might get to a point where he can't wake up anymore, or his muscles won't be developed properly._ She thought worriedly as she fed him something like midnight snack. He hardly moved or spoke at all anymore, just slept, even while he was feeding.

But to the minute, he would stir every seven hours. That was something she had been keeping track of, so she would know how much time she had to nap. And eventually she would need to go back home to her parents… they couldn't keep having a hologram for a daughter like this.

It was a problem they needed a solution to, and fast.

Sessho had dropped by a couple times, but after learning the plan, he just helped Yugi.

Everyone helped Yugi to search, all of them wanting their friend to be able to live a normal life. Yugi's grandpa brought food up to Trys every now and then, and to amuse her, they'd given her their computer, some video games, and a large amount of merchandise from Solomon's shop.

So she had plenty of time to herself. As many chances as they got, they would all drop by themselves to relieve her boredom and give her updates on the search. She felt like she knew the blow-by-blow of every Shadow Game ever played by the end of the month, and yet they still didn't find anything useful.

She went over her notes again and again, wracking her brain for some sort of clue. The monsters themselves intrigued her, but a particular one the most. Magician of Black Chaos, even said to have been Atem's Ka force. But how would that help? It was probably asleep too, and they had no way to wake it up without waking up Atem. And it wouldn't matter, either. _Sure, it'd be cool to meet a real Ka force, but pointless._

She came back every time, though.

_It's just like when I thought about the Shadow Games. What if the answer really is there?_

_But how do I know, if it is? How do I know?_ She grinned suddenly, thinking about the Ka. _Maybe it's my Ka, telling me what to do. I wish it was a little plainer, though. Still, if it's leading me the right way, I'll give as much patience to it as I can._ She smiled and went back to the Ka. _But how is this the answer?_

They instantly pulled out every single mention of Ka or anything similar, and brought it to her. Even Seto helped with this.


	29. Tryst p29

Trys was sitting on the bed, feeding Atem again, when Yugi burst in, yelling, "I figured it out!!"

She winced, and he froze, seeing Atem awake. Or at least, feeding. She hesitated, then pulled the bottle out and helped the pharaoh sit up. "Well, it shouldn't hurt to let him listen."

His eyes fluttered for a moment, and he slumped against her, as though he couldn't fully wake. He could hear them in the distance, and the fog was starting to lift. But he could see dark shapes in it, and he felt it had been better when he could barely see himself than seeing those shapes. He shook his head slowly. The lullaby wasn't playing, and he felt something was wrong. He didn't want to wake up. He didn't want to leave his sanctuary and find the world outside, and the darkness waiting.

"See, his Ka might be the solution to this. If you manipulate the Ka, you can literally do anything to the one it represented. If we get it out, we can fix whatever's wrong. Things like this happened, where curses were actually just wounding the Ka of a spirit. So if we heal his Ka, he won't need to forget anything to keep the darkness from coming back." Yugi said, passing her the papers.

She took them. "What's this?"

"Chicken scratch, for all we can make of it. It can't be translated by anyone, but it said above it that was the spell to draw out the Ka of a soul."

"Hm." She nodded. "And there isn't any other way?"

"No. Not that we found."

She studied it for a long moment, then looked down at Atem. "Hey… can you read this, Pharaoh?"

He twitched, startled. _She knows? Yugi must have told her… still… read what?_ He tried to wake, but the shadows grew quite suddenly as he did, and he recoiled.

She sensed him hesitate, and started humming softly. "Please, Atem, try." She sang, and he seemed to respond.

He opened his eyes and through the mist the copied writings appeared. But they were no clearer than anything around him. He knew he could read hieroglyphics, and the more basic form of writings, but this he could not read.

It did, though, remind him of something, and he said quite clearly, "It's from the Millennium Spellbook. But I can't read it."

Yugi and Trys gave each other startled looks. She looked back down at him again, then said quietly, "Thank you."

He slumped gladly back into her arms, asleep instantly. She passed the papers back and continued feeding him. "I'll look at it later, Yugi. Just put it on the desk for now."

"Okay. These instincts of yours are great, Trys. If you get any more, just let us know."

She nodded. "I will." She hesitated, then nodded again. "Thank you, Yugi."

***

That night, she was lying next to Atem, reading the notes over and over again. Patterns in the spell kept flashing in front of her eyes, along with images of a desert. The instincts were getting more defined, as though someone were trying to communicate to her. The spirit knew she was pushing it a little, but she let it ease in slowly, as though it were being triggered by the lullaby.

The desert and the patterns continued, and for a while she couldn't fit them together. She glanced over at the clock, then set aside the papers and turned to Atem.

He stirred only a little before fading into darkness once more. She stroked his cheek for a moment, then returned to the notes. _A desert? And the patterns. Is there the word desert in there somewhere?_

"Atem?" He stirred again, called by her word and the lullaby. "What's the Egyptian word for desert?"

***

By morning she had it figured out. She was pacing back and forth in the room, restless and thinking deeply, waiting for the sun go get a little higher, high enough to slant through the window into Yugi's eyes and wake him up. She bit her lip and read over the spell again, which she had literally memorized now. She could have written in that script as though it were her born language now, she had been studying it so intently.

_All from a single word. Desert. Or kimi, in the Egyptian tongue._ She pummeled her brain again, which felt very bruised after all the thinking she had done over the past month-and-a-half. _But something's missing. There was another part to it they didn't get. It's incomplete._ She pulled out her translation, though she had no need for it, and read over it again.

The Ka of a soul responds to the Ka of another's. One can only call one's own Ka force to bring out another's, and only if that other has deep personal feelings for the one.

_But it doesn't say how to call out one's own. It must have been easy practice back then. Wait, I was the one missing… the Diodeonc. He said it was the way to summon real monsters._ She spun back onto the original text, then scribbled down her finding, and sighed, sensing Atem stirring again. _It doesn't matter how many times I interrupt him, he'll sleep for seven hours. Or it's set hours. Still…_ She helped him up this time, up off the bed. "Atem? I want you to come with me."

He opened his eyes. "Where?" He whispered.

"Back to the museum. I can't wait any longer." She started for the door. "Come on."

He followed silently, eyes rather dull. "How long has it been?" He asked in the hall.

"A month-and-a-half. You've been asleep the whole time."

"You kept me asleep the whole time." He retorted weakly as he clutched for support down the stairs.

"We didn't know how else to keep the creatures in."

"They are held at bay every time you sing the lullaby." He mumbled, leaning against her.

She pushed open the door. "Do you know if anything else happens when I sing the lullaby?"

"It doesn't make me sleep: you're literally controlling me."

"What?!" She gave a start and nearly jolted him off her shoulder.

"The lullaby keeps the darkness at bay… in return, you gain control over me. I could resist it, but it's difficult, and you haven't made me do anything I don't want to do." He stumbled next to her, as though he were blind. She looked up at him and found his eyes closed.

She smiled.

"It helped… when I couldn't find sleep on my own, you gave me a way to reach it. But the darkness is coming back… I can't hold it off."

"Then what do you want?" She asked, coming to a halt.

He swayed on the spot. "Rest." He said finally.

She started singing again, gathering him into her arms and continuing to the museum. "…here in my arms, safe from all harm, holding you I'm smiling too…" His head slumped against her chest as he slept.


	30. Tryst p30

At the museum, which was thankfully open early, she set him down and stared up at the runes. She had to see it for herself. She sung softly, focusing, and he stirred, getting up and joining her, gazing up at the ancient text. Through him, she read it, and together they moved slowly down the line, searching for the answer.

She quickly found the spell, which she translated herself. She knew the script so well now that it was starting to be easier to understand than Japanese. She looked it over for a while, unable to quite make sense of it.

"Trys." He murmured, and she turned. Yugi, Téa, Joey, Tristan, Seto, and Mokuba were all arriving, with various expressions of worry on their faces.

"Trys! What are you doing?"

"Shouldn't Atem be in bed an' all?"

"What's going on? Why are you here?"

"An' why aren't we tha ones doin' the searchin'?"

"Did you figure it out, Trys?"

"Why isn' the dark stuff comin' like las' time?"

"Is he okay now?"

"Why didn' ya tell us you was comin' to tha museum?"

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

Trys looked back at the text. "One moment." What puzzled her the most was one question: _How do I bring out my Ka to bring out his? And then what? How do I heal him?_

"Atem, can _you_ explain why you guys are here?"

They glanced at each other, and Trys shrugged, raising her hands behind her head and staring up at the text, still uncertain. Atem looked back at the others, clear in the mist. "She found a way to hold back the darkness without me being asleep all the time. And she deciphered the spell. She needed more information, so we came to the museum." He had explained enough. They faded into the mist again and he turned back to her, then up at the text.

"Why didn' ya wait? We could'a done it for ya, saved ya the trouble." Joey growled.

Trys shook her head fiercely. "Get locked in a room for a month-and-a-half. Without anything to do." She glared at the text, then sighed and shook her head again. "I'm sorry. But I couldn't take being locked up like that anymore. And I was so close… I had the answer in my fingers. I just have to hope my grip is strong enough to grasp it." She drew closer to the tablet, frowning. _Word after word… nothing to help me free my Ka._ She hissed in frustration and spun angrily on her heel, striding around the room. Atem followed as though he had an invisible leash, pulling him along.

_What's up with the pharaoh? He doesn't seem right…_ Yugi frowned after them, confused. His friends were all thinking the same thing. He wasn't usually that vague, didn't usually look that lost or dull.

She cast around, groaning. _Anything! HOW DO I BRING OUT MY KA?!_

Atem echoed her groan, bringing a hand unsteadily to his head. She looked back, and a rather guilty look crossed her face. She stopped and took a deep breath before continuing rather more calmly.

"What's going on?" Seto asked finally, gaze riveted on the pharaoh.

Trys looked back again, and he shook his head quickly. She nodded and turned to another tablet, perusing it, silent.

"Well?"

Joey bristled. "Wha's goin' on, like Rich-Boy said? Why's Atem actin' so weird?"

"Trys?"

"You can't ignore us forever. Something's wrong. Or prove me wrong by telling us why he's acting like that! And you'd better make it believable." Seto snarled.

Trys sighed and shook her head. "Neither he nor I wish to speak of it." She had a hard time keeping a straight face after she spoke that phrase. Atem's mouth twitched and he trotted after her, trying to hide it. _It's mostly because I never use fancy words like that._ She thought with a slight smile, gazing rather intently at a tablet.

"Then something _is_ wrong, and you're not telling us what."

Joey grabbed her and shook her. "Somethin's wrong wid da pharaoh, an' I wan' answers, now!"

Atem grabbed his arm. "Hold it, Joey! She's the only one who can translate that spell!"

"Really?"

"Wha's wrong wid you?! Ya don' act like da pharaoh I know!"

Atem stepped away suddenly, and Trys slid from Joey's distracted fingers and turned back to the tablets. _Come on. I can't hold them off forever this way… I need to know how to summon my… why don't I ask them?_

She looked back. "Okay. I'll tell you, as long as you help me. I need to figure out how to summon my own Ka force, and how to heal his." She gestured at the pharaoh.

"Is that's what's wrong wid him?" Joey asked, looking over at Atem, then back.

"We'll help."

They instantly split up, searching and translating, trying to find the answer. Trys relaxed as they left, looking back at Atem, who shrugged. Her mouth twitched and she nodded, returning to the tablets.


	31. Tryst p31

It took some time, but finally, she found it. Atem went to gather the others again, and they all came back. He stood next to her, also gazing up at the tablet. He twitched and grasped her arm. She looked back, startled, then looked around at the clock.

She smiled and started to sing. She brought her hands together, focusing, and closed her eyes. Atem seemed to fall into a trance, and for a minute they just listened to the song. Slowly they became aware of something fading into view, stretching and unfurling from Trys.

A Different Dimension Dragon appeared and solidified, swirling around to face Atem. Trys turned and grasped him as he swayed, and he collapsed into her arms. She set him down on the ground, still singing, and another creature started to emerge, sliding out of Atem to lie next to him.

Magician of Black Chaos.

The dragon slithered down to the magician, crooning. Trys stroked Atem's arm as her dragon swirled around his magician. A trail of multicolored light came from the dragon's heart down to the magician's, and slowly, Trys began to heal Atem.

Trys stopped singing, relaxing and watching Atem cautiously. The Magician of Black Chaos withdrew, and the Different Dimension Dragon curled in midair around her. She stroked its neck, still watching Atem. She felt the pleasure of her Ka, even felt her own hand stroking her neck.

"Now what?" Yugi asked quietly.

They all looked at each other, then at Trys. "Well, I'm not sure. I fixed his Ka, so it'll be okay for him to remember. But I don't know what happens now."

Téa knelt on Atem's other side, and very carefully touched his arm. "Atem?"

He stirred and groaned. Without the fog, he felt like he had no cover. No protection. He blinked slowly and sat up. Trys held Téa's hand back. "Don't."

She glared at Trys, then lowered her hand. Atem looked from one to the other, then shifted, and they backed up. He got slowly to his feet, then swayed again, clutching the stands for support. Téa looked concerned for him, but Trys just looked confused at her.

"Téa, you do realize he was sleeping for a whole month and a half, right? That's all it is."

"_All_ it is? How can you be sure?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head exasperatedly. Mokuba thought he knew, though. "She just healed his Ka, so she might know a lot about how he's doing, Téa."

"So why aren't you helping him? He's obviously not doing so good…"

Trys snorted. "Take a closer look. He's just disoriented. He'll be fine."

Atem just stood there, breathing deeply. He hadn't felt that… whole… in years. Thousands of years. _The curse must have been from my actual days as pharaoh… that long ago?_

He looked up slowly. A hope he hardly dared to hope was coming to him. A thought he could barely believe was occurring to him. _Could it be the reason I couldn't do anything right without Yugi telling me what to do?_

Trys looked around at them all. "Well… I'm done. I should get back… go back home."

Seto nodded and held up a small chip. "This can tell you what your copy's been doing."

She took it. "Thanks, Seto." She turned away.

"Trys?"

She looked back.

"Thanks." Atem said quietly, nodding to her.

She smiled and continued. Her Ka shot into her back, disappearing, and she left.


	32. Tryst p32

Five Thousand Years

She hadn't seen any of them in weeks. She sat by herself again, still drawing, but now with the Magician of Black Chaos, not the Dark Magician. And her own Ka, intertwined sometimes, other times flying by his side. She rifled through her papers, searching, and pulled out a sketch she had drawn early on in Atem's recovery, of her feeding him. She leaned back against the fence, pulling her legs up and staring at it.

"I guess you're with your real friends now… I like you, and I know you liked me for a while… I don't really mind. You are a pharaoh, after all. Probably wish you could go home, now that you remember it." She was silent for a while, still staring at the paper. "Besides, Téa knew you longer. But then, it didn't seem like you liked her as anything more than a friend. I just wish we could hang out again, you and me… on this bench… like we used to. Even if I can't keep you the way I want to… I'd be content with just being friends. I don't want to scare you away. But it seems like it's too late for that now. You're recovered, and you have your memories again. You can be with your friends without worrying about a curse that could destroy the world. And quite frankly, if I had friends like that, I might feel the same way. I'd understand if you never spoke to me again. I just wish I could tell you that breaking up won't have broken our friendship, if you still want to be friends."

She fell silent again for a moment, sighing.

"Is that how you fed me?" Atem asked quietly, making her jump. "I heard Téa talking about it. She seemed to think a nobody shouldn't be the one taking care of me."

She turned, shocked. He was leaning against the fence, staring at her drawing. "Atem?"

His eyes flicked to hers. "I'm sorry I took so long. I haven't gotten a chance to go out on my own ever since you saved me." He leaped over the fence and sat down next to her, folding his arms and crossing one leg over the other. "I was here the whole time, all recess. And quite frankly, I feel nearly the same way. I still like you, and I've missed hanging out with you too."

She smiled happily. "So nothing's different? Not really, anyway?"

"Not in hanging out together. We might talk about different things, and you don't need to bring me lunch anymore, but everything else is the same."

She smiled. "Thanks."

They were silent for a moment, before he asked, "Where did you learn that lullaby?"

"I'm not sure. I've always known it, I guess, but I don't know who could have taught it to me: my parents never sing it, and I'm pretty sure no one else I know knows it."

"That's strange." He looked away, then looked back. "It's beautiful."

She gave him a sideways glance. "Do you want me to sing it?"

He shrugged. "Yes."

She put her things back into either the clipboard or the folder and set them on the ground, smiling. "Alright." She whispered, and he slid gratefully into her arms. "Hush now, my baby, be still love don't cry…" She sang softly, stroking his hair.

The world faded away into the fog, and it was just him and her, alone.

***

"Someone's happy about their walk. Where'd you go, Atem?" Yugi asked as he met the pharaoh at the door to the shop.

He looked back as he opened it. "Visiting a friend." He smiled and entered. "How did you do?"

"Pretty good. We got out early today, there was a teacher conference, so we got a half day." He frowned suddenly. "Which friend?"

Atem started up the stairs with a slight wave of greeting to Solomon as he passed. "Trys, remember? I went during recess. It's been a while."

"Oh. What'd you talk about?" Yugi suddenly got a way-too-innocent look as he watched his friend.

"Nothing much, actually." Atem shrugged. "We just hung out for a bit." He turned as Yugi entered his room. "Why?" He added suspiciously.

"Oh, no reason." Yugi said casually, but he couldn't meet Atem's eyes and very deliberately he unpacked his backpack.

There was a very long silence.

"Okay, fine. Joey and Tristan were talking about whether you'd go back within the month, and whether you'd go on a date with her. And Téa was obviously wishing she could strangle them, Trys, and maybe even you, if you actually did."

Atem sighed. "I guess it was inevitable that they would. Téa just doesn't understand." He turned away. "I'm not even sure I really understand."

"What do you mean?" Yugi's mischievous look dropped instantly as he came back out to stare at his friend.

Atem shrugged. "She's never been alone. Trys has. Téa tries to help, but she never knows what _I_ need. I like her, but only as a friend. Trys knows, probably because she's had to comfort herself hundreds of times. She seems to… she doesn't try to talk. Téa talks too much for me. Trys goes out of her way to make sure I'm okay." Atem shrugged again. "Part of it could be the lullaby she knows. And when she healed me." He turned back to his own room. "Like I said, I don't understand it well enough to give you a proper answer."

***

"Pharaoh fancies Trys?!" Tristan exclaimed when they had dragged the story out of Yugi.

Téa froze as she passed. "What?"

"Atem fancies Trys, Téa!" Joey performed a jig on the spot, laughing.

Yugi looked too red in the face for it to be just a joke. She sighed. _I guess he still likes her, then… looks like I took too long to decide. Still, I guess I'm okay with that. He's so mysterious it's a little frustrating. He won't let anyone in. Well, except Yugi and Trys, I guess. Yugi's a lot easier to figure out._ She shrugged. "Well, then, why are you shouting about it?"

_Man, that was a lot easier than I'd thought it would be._


	33. TRyst p33

Trys was looking forward to her recesses again, to coming to school at all. Atem found a lot more chances to go, and had a feeling Yugi was part of it. He didn't complain. Most of the time, she just sang to him, stroking his hair, though a few times they did talk.

Atem had asked once if she wanted anything from him, and she had said that him in her arms was more than good enough. To sing that lullaby, to comfort him. It helped him to know she loved those moments as much as he did.

She was singing to him when he struggled up out of the fog and opened his eyes. Immediately she released it, knowing he found it hard to fight its power. She would take his pain, and literally all his thought, when she sang now, but if he wanted to say something, then she wanted to let him.

"What is it, Atem?"

"I'm a wandering spirit, alone in what I'm going to face. I only have one chance, every five thousand years, to lay my soul to rest, and the last time, nearly two years ago, I was forced to stay because of my curse."

She knew what was on his mind. "Facing five thousand years alone terrifies you." She stroked his cheek. "Yugi told me about it… mostly in passing, though. He said it was your chance at the Afterlife. I didn't know you had to stay here, though. I've been thinking."

He gazed up at her, hoping, wishing, waiting for some kind of comfort, something he had slowly grown accustomed to expecting from her.

Trys looked away for a long moment, thinking.

_What will it do to me? I have to trust… I have to try. I wouldn't really care if I didn't want to risk myself for him._

He sensed her conflict and shifted uneasily. "What's wrong, Trys?"

She shook her head and seemed to come to herself. "I was just thinking. I'm fine. I can't do anything about you being stuck here for five thousand years, but I think I know how to stay with you."

"You would… do that?" He whispered.

She nodded. "I would become my Ka… my Different Dimension Dragon. That would allow me to live with you."

"But…"

"I wouldn't be any different. And at least we'd be together, my Pharaoh." She stroked his cheek again, murmuring, "It would be my choice, and I know the risks. I don't want you to dissuade me just to save me."

"Trys… if you're going to, then I will too. Just show me how."

She smiled. "All right. But we'll talk no more of this now, my Pharaoh. Hush."

***

The next time he came, she wasn't immediately there. He melted back, thinking hard. _She means to come with me… so I'm not alone. If she's going to become a monster, though, I want to. If she wants us to be in this together, then it's going to be to the letter. I'll become the Magician of Black Chaos. But at what cost? What is she going to give up?_

She appeared beside him, instead of coming out of the school. "I've been waiting. Well, testing. Nothing will change, Atem… the only thing would be I can change into my Ka form. I can do it for you right now, if you want."

"Please." He turned to her. "But first, what will this mean? Once we are our Ka, what will happen? What will change?"

She smiled and leaped back over the fence, and he followed. "Well, first off is we would be the actual monsters. This world would no longer be our true home; that would be the Dominion of the Beasts. Second is our shadows would become our monsters, as would our reflections. And there are people who would be able to see through our 'disguise'. And when it comes time for you to lay your spirit to rest, it would be a simple matter of opening a portal to another dimension. Even if the tomb has collapsed. I think we might miss being human… but at least we'll be together."

He glanced at her shadow; it was still human.

She followed his gaze and smiled. "I haven't just yet. I had a feeling you would still want to do it. So we'd do it together." She took his hand. "As a team."

He nodded. "When do you want to do it?"

She frowned. "I'm not really sure. I want to wait… but then I want to get it over with. I want to enjoy what little I have left as a human, but I also want to get it out of the way so it isn't looming, so I don't lose my nerve. I just don't know."

He stroked her hand. "Tomorrow. We'll do it tomorrow. But for now, let's forget about it."

She nodded. "Then tomorrow it is." They sprang over the fence to the bench, and she pulled him down into her lap and began to sing.

***

When Trys got home, she began to notice the changes. Her eyes couldn't help but stray to her shadow, and it seemed so obvious… she could sense things she could never have sensed before. Starting with scents and sights and sounds she had never thought existed. She could see minute details on the couch from the stairs, a good twelve feet away. She could hear her parents' breathing as they sat there, watching the TV. And she could smell their sweat, the mildew behind their CD rack, the trash from her mom's lunch.

She could feel quite clearly the different currents in the air, and nearly see them in the dust motes that suddenly seemed to be in a lot more places now. She was so _alive_… all life before had seemed dull. Now, she was alive with power she hadn't realized came with becoming a supernatural being.

She didn't feel the need to sleep. She didn't not want to, she just didn't need to. She twitched her hands, feeling every single muscle that moved with it, feeling her heart responding, her lungs tightening slightly. At the same time, she felt something like a shadow, her true form, shifting in response.

She gazed out her window, then turned and closed the door, turning off the light and focusing. Her human body faded away, and the dragon appeared, hovering carefully in the room. She studied the window itself, then nosed it, studying her own dimensions with her newfound skills. She wouldn't fit without scraping and making some noise. And even if they didn't notice the noise, they would notice the scrapes.

She frowned and opened her jaw slowly, focusing again, testing, probing. She could feel the other dimension, and closed her jaw again on midair, tugging lightly. A portal opened, and she slithered through. She opened a portal on the other side, directing her focus to just outside her window, to see if it worked. She poked her head out and grinned. _Now, to close them._ She backed up, tugging again, and the portal shut. She turned to go through the one to her room, not wanting to risk messing up at the last minute.

After changing back into a human, she smiled. _Perfect._

_Now, to see if Atem is just as curious about his new powers…_


	34. Tryst p34

Atem had similar reactions to his new senses, and was just as careful to test his own powers. He had no way to open portals, but he could reduce things to dust without making a sound, and make things hover. The second was very helpful in hiding the marks of the first. He incinerated several blank pieces of paper, and only had to stop when Yugi knocked on the door.

"One moment." He said quickly, changing back to a human and scattering the dust from his desk onto the floor. "Yes?"

"What's up? You're all quiet all of a sudden. Did something happen between you and Trys?" Yugi frowned at Atem's dusty front, and added, "What are you doing?"

"Uh…" He looked down too late. His black shirt was literally gray with the paper motes. "I…" He brushed himself off studiously, trying to think of an excuse. "I was… dusting." He said finally, wincing at the hollowness of his statement.

"I can see that." Yugi said dryly. "It's all over the floor, too. You were 'dusting'. Looks more like ash to me. You weren't _burning_ things in here, were you?"

"Well, no." Atem was still studiously trying to get the dust completely out of his shirt.

"Why are you lying, Atem?" Yugi asked sharply, annoyed. "You never do! Why now? Why are you acting like this? Is something wrong between you and Trys?"

"No. We're fine." Atem looked out the window and froze, seeing his reflection. A startled Magician of Black Chaos was staring back at him. He looked quickly away to find Yugi's accusing stare facing him.

"What's wrong?!" Yugi asked again, furious. "First you come home without a word, then I find you with ash all down your front, and then you start lying to me! For the first time, you're _lying_ to me! Why? Why don't you _trust_ me?"

"I do! I just…"

"You just don't trust me with this. Am I no longer your friend? Is Trys the only one you care about now?" Yugi looked down. "Is Trys the only one you think about now?" He asked, much more quietly.

Atem winced. With every word Yugi had said, he had backed up, until he hit the bed, where he sat down, clutching his head. "Yugi… please… let me explain. I still care about you! You're still my friend. This is just…" He shook his head. "Lately I don't even know what I'm thinking, or why." _That sounds horrible._

Yugi knew how far he could push it. He winced inwardly, but if there was something that was tearing him apart like this, Yugi wanted to know. He grimaced. "So you don't think I'm enough of a friend to trust me? I could help. But no, the mighty pharaoh doesn't trust his closest friends. Or am I not close anymore?"

Atem hesitated, then glanced back at the wall, where his shadow was, so obviously something else he doubted adding neon signs to it would change anything. Finally, he whispered, "Trys found a way to stay with me for the five thousand years I'm stuck here, until I can lay my soul to rest."

Yugi frowned, then froze, seeing the shadow's form as well. He waited.

Atem didn't look up, just mumbled into his lap. "You're the closest friend I've ever had. Yugi… you have to understand… I never wanted to talk about it. I didn't want you to try… I… did the same thing as she did… we merged with our Ka. I'm not human anymore… this is just a form." He winced. "I couldn't dissuade her… so I did it with her."

Yugi looked back at the shadow. It definitely was the magician. "So now she'll live with you for those five thousand years."

"Yes." Atem looked back at his shadow again. "I had been… testing my abilities."

Yugi managed a grin. "How?"

Atem just pointed. A piece of paper lifted from the desk. It was surrounded by a clear sort of bubble, which filled with an expanding black one. The bubbles stayed for a moment, then disappeared, and a pile of ash fell from it back to the desk.

_He had me wrapped around his finger._ Atem winced silently. _I probably deserved that little talk, though. It was too close to lying. And though I've come close, I've never really come that close, especially not to Yugi._ There was a sickly taste in his mouth, and part of him relished it. _I'm certain I wouldn't have if I hadn't been caught off guard._

_But then, he might not even have asked those questions._ He pushed himself further onto his bed and sat there, hugging his knees, burying his face to hide it. _And I ended up telling him the truth anyway._

Yugi watched him for a long moment, then sat down opposite him. "You okay, pal?" He asked quietly.

Atem didn't look up. "I nearly lied to you. And I've never lied before. I would bend the truth, but never lie. When you knocked, I dusted off the desk, and that's what I meant, but that's the closest I've ever come to lying." He shook his head suddenly. "I don't know what I'm thinking anymore!"

Yugi touched his arm. "Look at me, Atem." His friend looked up very slowly, but he did meet his gaze. "I'm sorry about what I said. I know it's not true. But you weren't letting me help you! We're friends, and I don't want that to change because you don't know what you're doing. Please, let me help you. I'm sorry about what I said, but you wouldn't listen any other way."

"I deserved it." Atem shifted so he was sitting next to Yugi. "But I don't know if you can help."


	35. Tryst p35

He lay alone on his bed, letting his confused feelings take over, trying to clear them out. He knew he loved Trys, but he also feared her, with her power over him. She could control him with that lullaby. He wanted her to stay with him, and she would, but… he didn't know what the 'but' was, though there seemed to be one.

Did he _not_ want her to stay? It would mean he was free of the lullaby and her control, but whenever she sang it, that was the only time he was ever at peace with himself.

And Yugi's little tongue-lashing had forced Atem to wake up. Even if Yugi didn't say it was true, Atem did realize his preoccupation with Trys was distracting him from spending time with his other friends.

How was he supposed to fix that? If he spent more time with them, he would spend less time with Trys, and with Trys he was a lot less torn up inside.

He looked out the window. He knew she would be out there… it was just a matter of finding her. But did he want to go? He was afraid. He was afraid to go. He wanted to… he didn't know what he wanted. He wanted to go, but then he wanted to stay. It was tearing him up from the inside, and he couldn't stand it. He had to stop thinking, had to stop feeling anything, and suddenly a longing for the fog that always came when she sang fell over him. He just wanted to drift away…

He sat up and went to the window, changing as he pushed it open, then pulled it shut behind him, leaping off into the sky.

Trys was floating over the park, swirling in slow circles, waiting. He shot into her coils, clutching at what was both his salvation and his bane. Human again, he felt like he could scream.

Trys drifted to the ground, where she knelt as a human, holding him in her arms. "What's wrong?"

He just reached out mentally, and all his confused feelings rushed in as he sobbed into her shirt. "Just take them away. Just take them all away."

She smiled. "You should spend what time you have with them. They're mortal, remember? You'll have me for five thousand years. And I would never use this lullaby against you, you know that."

He looked up at her, still terrified, and she wiped away his tears. He felt lost, but slowly, she was driving away all his confusion. He still clutched her, as though she were a mother, and slowly, all his doubt was washed away.

She started to sing, and he became certain and strong as a rock. He did love her, but he would spend his time with Yugi and his friends before they left, then join her in their wait for the Afterlife. She only used the lullaby to soothe him, and never to force him to do anything against his will.

He closed his eyes.

***

Trys rose into the air, the music now playing what felt like right from her skin. Atem was sleeping, human, in her coils. She flew back to his home and snaked in the window, which was considerably larger than her own, and still open. She paused, though, with her head inside.

Yugi was sitting in the chair, worried. He looked up as she entered. "Who are…"

She had stopped singing, and shifted Atem up through her coils into her wings. She slithered forward, over to the bed, laying him in it and turning back to Yugi. _"I hope you'll forgive me for not telling you about this."_

"Trys!" He smiled. "I should have guessed. Atem said you guys had merged with your Ka." He looked over at his friend. "Will he be alright?"

She nodded, smiling back as she became human. "He'll be just fine. Better, even, I hope. He was pretty confused, but he should be okay now."

"He was telling me about it." Yugi mumbled quietly.

Trys went back to the window, staring up at the sky. "He was afraid of me. Afraid, because of the lullaby. And at the same time, he loved me. He let me into his mind, to help him… and he was afraid he wasn't going to be able to be with you guys, because he felt he needed to be with me. But we'll have five thousand years to kill. There, it was just a matter of my approval." She smiled reminiscently. "It was a little harder to convince him, deep down, that I wouldn't use the lullaby against him. That was more instinct to avoid things like that. But I think he should be fine now."

"Thanks." Yugi came up next to her. "Um… Trys?"

"What?" She looked over at him.

"Can you let me change too? Please?"

She smirked. "I thought you'd never ask. I'm not all that sure we'll be able to amuse ourselves for five thousand years, so any help would be nice. I'm pretty sure Atem wouldn't agree, though, only because he doesn't want to drag anyone into it." She held out her hand. "Since I've already done it, since I know what happens, you'll have a bit of a boost."

"What kind of boost?"

"I know what I'm doing. That enough of a boost?"

Yugi grinned. "I suppose that'll have to do. Thanks, Trys!"


	36. Tryst p36

Atem lay back in the grass, staring up at the clouds. The whole gang was there, Yugi and Trys next to him, then Téa on Yugi's other side, and Joey, Tristan, Duke, in that order, after her.

They were all watching the clouds, occasionally naming some that took a particular shape. Yugi nudged his friend after a while. "Come on, Atem, everyone else's done it. Your turn."

It had developed into something of a game, with each person naming a cloud after a duel monster. But Atem hadn't been in it. He'd been off in his own little world, thinking. Now, he stirred, sighing. _Well… it's a game…_

_But it's so pointless._

_Still. If I name one, they won't throw a fit or anything._ He started searching for a cloud, and for a long time they waited. Finally, he pointed. "That one's a Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"That one's a jet." Duke grumbled.

"Where?"

"That one. The one he's pointing at."

"Yeah. Hey, that's Kaiba!"

"Tha wasn' a good one, 'Tem. Man, _Tristan_ 'ad a better one than you did!"

"Try again, Atem. This time, name a cloud, not a jet."

He folded his arms, frowning. "Fine. The one above him is a Curse of Dragon."

It shifted, and a cloud Curse of Dragon appeared, following Kaiba's Blue Eyes jet.

"Hey, how'd you do that?!"

"Cheater!"

"That's not fair!"

"You can't _make_ it a Curse of Dragon!"

He sat up and grinned at them. "No one said anything about not changing the original shape of the cloud. I don't cheat."

Joey bristled, sitting up to face him. "Yah, well, ya sure don' play by the rules either."

Trys laughed. "We should tell Kaiba, when we get the chance!"

"Why not just move the cloud where Kaiba can see it?"

"He'll say, 'It's got to be some kind of mind trick!'"

Atem shook his head. "It might be funny, until he crashes."

They sobered.

"And he'd have Mokuba with him, he always does…"

"Save the mind tricks for later, I guess."

"Yeah."

"What's that?!" Yugi asked, sitting up and pointing.

At first, there wasn't anything there. But the sky started to darken, and clouds appeared out of nothing. A storm was building.

"That's not good."

"Are you doing that?"

"No. I wouldn't."

They got to their feet, staring upward.

"He could get caught in that."

"_We_ could get caught in that. Come on, let's get out of here!"

"Quick, get back home, everyone! We can't do anything to help Kaiba… we'll just have to hope he's got a brain and tries to land before this starts." Trys gave Atem and Yugi especially fierce looks, and they looked away meekly.

"Kaiba, you'd better be safe up there."

"Get out of here, go on!" She bounded away, and the others bolted, running for home.

As soon as she was down an alley, she changed, flying back up. The storm was already starting to rumble, and lightning was striking all high places. Rain poured down like waterfalls, and thunder exploded around her. _Come on, Kaiba… where are you?!_

He was trying to stabilize his flight as Mokuba called for help. Seto aimed for a roof, trying to bring his jet down anywhere he could land. _It can't end like this! Not to Mokuba! I'm not going without a fight!_

A dead zone suddenly encompassed him. They were extremely rare, but when enough discharge had been shot in an area, a dead zone could be created.

The jet went dark, and in the silence, Mokuba whispered, "Seto…"

"What the–?!"

Trys grabbed the jet as it started its deadly fall. It was too heavy… _"Hey, Kaiba! Mokuba! Get out here, and trust me on this! I'll get you out of this alive, but I won't be able to save you _and_ the jet, so get out and trust me!"_

"What…?!" He stared at the dragon snaked around the neck of the jet, then yelled, "Mokuba! Get out, quick!" He opened the cockpit and literally ripped his straps to get out. He grabbed his briefcase, which held his three Blue Eyes, and jumped onto her back. He turned, settling down, and reached out for Mokuba, who was standing in the jet looking terrified.

_"Get out of it, Mokuba! I can't hold it much longer!"_

"Grab my hand, Mokuba! Quick!"

"I'm scared, Seto!"

"I know! Grab my hand!"

The jet started to slip, and Mokuba screamed, clutching the seat in paralyzed fear.

Trys cursed wildly and let go, falling with it as her body whipped down around him. _"You're safe! Just hold on!!"_ She shot upward, freed of the load. The jet crumpled on the roof, and exploded. The fire billowed upward, a surge of energy not yet dampened.

"We'll never make it!!"

"Can't you fly faster?!"

_"I don't need to."_ She grinned back at him, and they flew through a hole she'd opened as she started to fall with the jet. _"We're safe in here."_ She tugged it shut behind her, not a moment too soon. The fire licked up her left cheek before she got it shut. She growled, wincing, and shook herself. _"You guys still in one piece?"_

"I think so…"

"Who are you, and why did you save us?"

_"Always one to ask questions, aren't you?"_ She landed, releasing both of them. _"I'll show you."_ She faded back into a human.

"Trys?!"

"But how'd you…? How…? What is this? What's going on?!"

She chuckled and changed back into the Different Dimension Dragon. _"As to all that… I figured out how to merge with my Ka. Sure, don't believe me. I don't care. As long as you're alive, I really honestly don't care."_

Seto just stared at her.

_"Howabout this? It's all a hallucination, brought on by that lightning bolt that hit the Blue Eyes jet. You're still out in that storm, you have no way to pilot the jet, and Mokuba's trying to wake you up. Which would you prefer? You and Mokuba safe here, or you and Mokuba about to die?"_

Mokuba laughed. "I have to agree with her this time, Seto. It's a good thing she saved us. And I really don't care how she did, just that she did. Thanks, Trys. That's really cool, how you can change like that."

"Can you take us back?" Seto growled finally.

She nodded. _"Certainly. Where?"_

"My headquarters would be nice."

She nodded. _"All aboard!"_ She tugged open the portal again, this time at the base of Kaiba Corp's building. _"And here we are."_ She landed, releasing them and changing back.


	37. Tryst p37

Rain still poured, thunder still rolled, lightning still crackled, but now they were safe. Trys saw an apparition and shot forward, slamming into the Kaiba brothers, thrusting them inside just as lightning redirected at them. She got hit instead, and her left eye felt like it had exploded. She threw her head back, letting it cool in the rain as she yelled. For some reason, the lightning hadn't done anything but strike her eye. She clutched it and looked up. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine, but you got hit by lightning!" Seto came back out, helping her up.

"I'll be fine. Because I'm a Duel Monster now, it takes a lot more to keep me down. You just get under cover."

"Okay. Come on, Seto, let's go inside."

She bolted away before he could say anything else, and took off as the dragon, speeding back into her world. For some reason, the portal just opened when she wanted it open now. Inside, she landed, and the portal closed behind her. She lay, panting and gasping. She shook herself and rose again, returning home. _Ka… shouldn't there be some sort of curse on me? Well, it doesn't look like it. So be grateful._

She checked the mirror anyway, but nothing looked wrong with her eye. No one would notice.

Even as a dragon, there was no burn. No burn, no damage, nothing to suggest there was anything wrong. _Maybe there's no curse after all._


	38. Tryst p38

Moving In

They were in the park again, after the storm, which had cleared up almost as soon as the sun rose. The strange thing was, there was hardly any storm damage. To the gang, though, they knew it was no ordinary storm.

"Who could have done that, though?" Duke wondered as he shifted one of his capsules sideways, to engage Joey's.

"I'm not sure. Whoever it was had a lot of power."

"How do you figure that, Téa?" Tristan asked as he watched Joey toss aside his capsule.

"Well, who have we seen that can conjure storms out of nothing?"

"Dunno… dat freaky guy in ya memory, 'Tem, an' Dartz." Joey moved another one forward, and Duke had to move his off the board.

"Neither of which I'd want to see back, really." Yugi muttered, looking around at Trys. "Do you know?"

She shook her head. "I don't know either of them anyway, so I wouldn't know. But it sounds like they're really powerful."

"Powerful?! They both nearly destroyed the world!" Tristan grumbled.

Trys nodded. "I see." She sighed. "Guys…"

"What is it, Trys?" Atem sat with his back to her, but with the tone in her voice, he looked over his shoulder.

She glanced back at him, then leaned forward. "I'm moving."

"What? Where?"

"Where ya goin', Trys?"

"When did you find out?"

"When are you moving?"

She winced. "I found out last night, during the storm. We're moving to the Caribbean as soon as school's up."

"That's one month left. One month of warning." Duke muttered.

Atem got to his feet and strode away, face hidden.

Trys sighed as she watched him go. "I'll come and visit when I can… I just wish I didn't have to leave at all." She stood, turning to them. "You guys are the best friends I ever had."

***

She sat alone on the beach, her arms on her legs, her chin resting on top, gazing out at the sea. Soon, she would be in a place similar to this, starting her journey into the sea, to live a new life on the waves.

_I don't want to go._

A tear slid down her cheek. "I don't want to go." She repeated to herself. "It might've been fun… if they were able to come with me… I just don't want to go. I'd go mad." She never shook, but tears slid down her cheeks like rivers. She closed her eyes. _I wish I could just sing to him one more time. He's all I care about… I don't want to go._

She started to sing to herself, wishing she could have him in her arms one last time. Wishing he would come down the beach and join her, lie down in her arms… wishing she could stroke his hair once more.

Before she had to leave for what could be forever.

***

She paused as she lifted her deck. Her favorite monster, her Ka, sat on top. She shifted it aside to reveal the Magician of Black Chaos. She had a Dark Magician, but she preferred this magician. Mostly because it was Atem's Ka.

"I'm sorry." She breathed, stroking it with a finger. _I won't need a deck where I'm going. It's just a reminder of what I lost._

_But this can help me remember… I should never try to forget. That would be giving up. I don't want to give up just yet._

She clenched her fist on her cards resolutely, and placed them carefully in one of the zippers of her backpack.

A commotion started downstairs. Trys frowned and turned, going to the door, and starting down.

Joey was standing there, yelling at her parents. "I know her from school, okay? I jus' wanna wish her luck! Trys!"

She was laughing. She stumbled down to sit on the stairs, a grin plastered on her face.

"You know this ragbag?!"

"Hey, watch it!"

"You demand entry, then know my daughter?"

Trys got up and came down. "It's okay, Dad. He's not my boyfriend or anything. He's just one of my friends at school."

"Yeah. An' the others all wanted ta say goodbye, say have a good time, an' wishin' ya good luck. Well… not Atem. He's who knows where, an' I think he wants ta… well, ya know." Joey shrugged. "But I was da on'y one wid free time, so I came."

She nodded. "Yeah. Goodbye… see you sometime." She ran forward and hugged him. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

He grinned and shook her hand as they parted. "An' we will too. So have a good time, an' we'll always be thinkin' of you." He left quickly.

***

She sat on the boat late at night, staring out at the sea, back where she knew Atem and the others were, over hundreds of miles away. A lone tear slid down her cheek. "Atem." She whispered.

"Was he your boyfriend?" Elisa came and sat down next to her, gazing out at the sea.

She looked back.

"Atem, I mean. Joey spoke of him as though he were close to you."

"Yes… I love Atem." She made it clear it was a present-tense, not a thing of the past.

"Well… we're not going back. We're marine biologists now, in the Caribbean, and we're not going back. So you might never see him again. And if we do ever go back, he might have another… girl."

"He wouldn't. He's not like that."

"It'll be years if all goes well for us, before you'll be able to go back. And by then, he might have given up. I just don't want you to be pining after him… he's around a lot of people, and someday, he might forget you for someone who'll be there for him to love."

Trys shook her head. "Never. It's not something you'd understand."

"I think I understand it more than you do. I've been through situations like this, before I met your dad. I just don't want you to be unhappy. I don't want you to break your heart, if he chooses some other girl."

She looked up, and the tears were greatly highlighted by the moon. _She'd never understand. I'm staying with Atem for five thousand years. It's not something… he wouldn't cast that away… for present comfort…_ She shook her head and looked back at the ocean. "Let me pine, if that's what it means to stay true. I promised I'd never forget him, and he'd never forget me."

Her mom left, sighing. As soon as they turned off the lights, Trys got silently over the side, thrusting off into the water. She bit off a cry at the change, and shuddered. _Change, thickhead, change!_

She dived, now some sort of sea serpent, swirling happily around in the water. _I'm coming, Atem. I'll never stay long from you. Every chance I get, I'll come. And I'll sing that song to wipe your fears away._ She pushed through the portal into the other dimension, and focused on Yugi's house. _I'll always be with you. As long as you don't forget me for some other girl._

She hovered right outside the window and peered in. Atem wasn't in bed. Yugi opened the door a moment later, looking in, then staring over at Trys, who mirrored his worry. Without a second thought, she sprang into the sky, searching. _Atem, I'm coming. Hold on a little longer…_


	39. Tryst p39

He didn't even bother coming home. He stood on the beach, right where she had sat earlier that day, staring out across the sea. His gaze lifted slowly to the moon, and he whispered, "I'll never forget. I can't forget. I won't forget." He shut his eyes and bowed his head, shaking, trying to hold in his tears.

The music reached his ears, and he spun, terrified. Trys shot down, landing in front of him. "I'll always come when I can, Atem." She whispered, and hugged him.

He gave a start. This time, it was Trys shaking, Trys the one doubting herself, Trys seeking comfort. He held her close, murmuring, "It's all right, Trys. I'm here."

***

The night was starting to grow old. Trys looked up and the music died away slowly. Atem stirred. "What is it, Trys?"

_"I need to go… the sun rises earlier there… I don't want them to wake up and I'm gone. I might not be allowed to return, and I don't want to cut it any closer than I have to. We still have a ways to go before we're in the clear."_

He nodded reluctantly. "Alright."

She took off, shooting into a portal that opened up before her. She had learned how to bypass the time it took to open it earlier, and it shut automatically behind her. She slid through the second one and dived quickly into the water, slithering aboard silently and changing back to a human. There, she fainted, exhausted.

***

Atem often went alone, gazing thoughtfully into the distance, waiting hungrily on the inside, waiting for Trys to come and heal him. Trys was 'teaching' herself how to 'dive', so as to give her a reason to be leaping into the water whenever she chose.

Her parents didn't mind. They were studying a strange dragon that seemed to mark its territory nearby.

A dragon that went into caves and disappeared completely.

Trys loved it, it was actually funny to see them studying her. Quite amusing. And when they brought back pictures or videos of them to show Trys, they assumed her grin was because the dragon was so similar to her favorite Duel Monsters card.

Atem found it amusing when Trys showed him some of the pictures she had 'borrowed'. She couldn't really borrow the videotapes, because that would require a TV, and _that_ would require appearing when everyone thought she was out in the Caribbean.

For a year they managed, when Trys would now go to college. With her moving out, Arthur and Rebecca were moving in to study the dragon her parents had found, and were now ready to open it to other professors.

Trys knew very well what they were planning. With Arthur, they would lay plans of how to capture this creature and tag them, in order to more closely study them. And perhaps even find others.

But first, Trys had to figure out if they could follow her through her portal.

She asked a lot about the tracking device, its range, what came with it, and anything she could. It could transmit a signal to any satellite, so anywhere she was in the world it could pick her up, if not right away if it jumped. It came with a recorder of the sounds the creature made, even if it couldn't pick up other sounds. It didn't view anything else.

Trys relaxed. She didn't mind at all about the song. The positioning was okay. And since that was all, she didn't mind if they _did_ catch her.

And she was even planning on letting them catch her.

One other thing it did was monitor the foods the creature ate, who knew how.

Trys didn't mind that either.

She had to stage it carefully for after she left for college. She insisted she go alone, and even dropped hints she was hoping to see someone there and have quiet time with them. As soon as her parents were gone, though, she hid, changed into the dragon, and returned to Atem.

He was talking with Yugi and the others when she ran up, laughing. "Hey guys! Long time no see!"

"Hey, it's Trys!" They turned to her and buried her under warm welcomes, each wanting to know how she was here.

She hugged Atem, then laughed and turned back. "I'm out on my own, surprising enough. So I thought I'd move back here again. Nice to see you all! So, how have you guys been holding up? I hope I didn't miss anything interesting."

"Atem may 'a' been wid us, but he sure thought a' you 24/7." Joey teased, though no one minded.

"I got to the highest rank in my dance class, and they're looking to acquaint me with Broadway, says I'm doing really good." Téa lifted a letter. "I got this from some director, explaining about the movie. I may look in to acting too, if all of them are this good."

"Yugi's gramps hired Joey and Tristan while you were out, and my game just got its first tournament. Kaiba Corp. is hosting it, but oh well. I guess I ought to be grateful for publicity."

"Kaiba got permission to create the cards now, he's continuing what Pegasus was doing, and sending out new cards, too. Through my gramps, isn't that strange?"

"I got an entrance to college, and Joey too…"

Atem leaned close. "The storm may not have erupted, but tension is building."

"How have _you_ been?" Trys asked pointedly, looking slightly sour at the news.

He blinked, then smiled. "Never better, now that you're back."

She laughed, then glanced around. "You guys had lunch yet? I'm starving."


	40. Tryst p40

"So… how've you been holding up, Trys?"

"Well, my parents found some really cool stuff they'll show the public as soon as they have enough evidence of it, and enough information on it. It's quite fascinating, actually, and Rebecca and Great-Uncle Arthur are going to live with my mum and dad for a bit before they tell everyone, help them get things going." Trys took a huge bite of her chicken drumstick, feeling ravenous.

"So… what's the big secret?" Téa asked curiously.

"Mm?"

"This thing your parents found. What is it?"

"Well, it's a secret, isn't it?" She grinned teasingly and ruffled Atem's hair. He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning into her touch before returning to his meal. "Besides, sure I've seen it, but they're going to announce it anyway."

"Come on, we're your friends! Tell us!"

"Ya gotta let us in on da secret, honestly."

"Please, tell us!"

Atem gave her a quiet, knowing look. Trys sighed coyly and gave in. "Oh, fine. See, they found a Different Dimension Dragon in the Caribbean."

"Really?!"

"Keep it down, it's a secret, remember?"

"Wow, though… a Duel Monster?"

"I wonder how it got into our world…"

"Professor Hawkins said it could have been trapped here when the gate closed, right after the battle of Atlantis. Rebecca gave me the blow-by-blow. Though according to her Yugi did everything." She grinned. "Bakura helped with what was… different… in Rebecca's story. Still. If it was trapped here, then it may be the only one of its kind. Or there could be more left behind, who knows?"

"It _is_ interesting…"

"Yeah."

After lunch, they walked for a bit, catching up on old times, before heading to dinner. After some thought, they took it to the beach and ate there, enjoying the last rays of the sun as it sank beneath the sea.

Trys started to hum, but it was a different tune than before.

"What's that song, Trys?" Yugi asked quietly, coming to sit on her other side as she sat on an outcropping nearby, Atem beside her.

"It's one of the variations for the 'Lay of the Harper'." She sighed. "I only know snatches of the actual song, but it's rather pretty."

"Sing wha' ya know, go on!" Joey called, finishing off his chicken with a flourish.

Tristan finished too, and the two of them got up, coming over to hear better. Téa joined them, bringing her salad.

Trys looked back. "It's an ancient Egyptian lay… the words may not rhyme in English, but I'll sing what I know." She turned to gaze out at the sea, and began to sing. "His happy fate fulfilled… So one goes forth

"While others, as in days of old, remain.

"Long fallen… e'en their places are unknown,

"And they are now as though they ne'er had been.

"No soul comes back to tell us how he fares–

"To soothe and comfort us ere we depart

"But let our minds

"Forget of this and dwell on better things…

"In eager quest of what your heart desires–

"Do as it prompts you… until that sad day

"Of lamentation comes, when hearts yet rest

"Yea, none returns again when he goes hence."

She glanced around.

They were all asleep.

Well, all but Atem. He was leaning against her, but he wasn't asleep. "That… was beautiful." He whispered.

"It was a song made by an ancient bard who was curious about what lay beyond. I didn't realize it was so powerful."

"It's you, Trys. Not the song, not the lullaby… it's you. You have a power inside you that gives you the ability to do this…" He slid his head into her lap. She stroked him, smiling. Yugi lay with his back to her, though he was his Ka now, the Silent Magician.

However, Atem hadn't noticed. He blinked, feeling tears starting in his eyes. She drew her finger across his cheek. "Whatever it is, it's a blessing, because I can take your pain away." He grasped her hand, and she hesitated as he drew up towards her.

Yugi glanced back secretly, and quickly shut his eyes, turning away as inconspicuously as he could. _Well, now they're kissing. Looks like the next five thousand years won't be so bad._

***

Trys slithered around the coral, watchful. Even if she planned on letting them capture her, she still couldn't oppress her wariness.

There were cameras, she saw, hidden in the coral. Or at least, anchored in the coral where they were no threat to the surrounding environment, and still protected from the stronger elements. She went to one, trying to work off some of her fear, and examined it.

"It seems to have a curiosity for the cameras, Grandpa." Rebecca called, and Arthur appeared.

"Oh good, it's back. I've been researching this specific Duel Monster, and perhaps it has the ability to teleport into another dimension. That would explain why its den was empty, even right when it entered. And how it came out when it shouldn't have been there." He sat down next to her and watched the screens of the cameras on her computer. "It does seem to possess an interest in our technology."

"Since there haven't been that many gate openings in the past several hundred years, maybe even thousand, this particular dragon may not have had much chance to witness the advancements of the human society." Rebecca widened the screen so they could see Trys better. "I would, if the only technology I ever saw were swords and magic."

"I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, Rebecca. But it could also be a case of interest in the cameras being in its territory. Especially if its territory is very familiar to her, like new notes in an old song." Arthur stood. "I'll get George and Elisa."

Trys took a deep breath and slithered away. _I've got to live normally as a dragon. It's going to be strange, but they may figure out it's me, and I really don't want to get a lot of questions like that._ She shrugged inwardly. _It shouldn't be too hard. They're already used to me appearing and disappearing in 'my' cave, so all I really have to do is… entertain myself for…_

_Hours…_

She shrugged again. _It's not like I have anyone to hang out with, really. Everyone else is working. Well, all except Atem. But he needs to enjoy them while he has them. They're not exactly sticking around._ She darted into the coral and emerged with a crab. _This'll do just fine. Ha! I can fish!_

Four keyboards clicked madly away.


	41. Tryst p41

Moving On

Trys was enjoying alternately sending her parents letters from 'college' and playing as the Dimension Dragon, whom they had decided not to capture after all, so as not to imply mistrust.

Téa went into Broadway, then on to Hollywood, as she was doing just as well as an actor as a dancer, and soon became a multi-millionaire, and bought a nice property by the sea, where she hosted parties for her friends a lot, though she seemed to be doing more in movies and dancing than anything else.

Joey and Mai were travelers, and were often on the road, though they came back when Mai got pregnant. Tristan and Duke were each trying to outdo the other in getting Serenity. That is, until Duke met a pretty girl and got married with her instead.

Yugi's grandfather passed away, and Yugi went into a period of shock, though the gaming shop was doing incredibly well. He hardly spoke, though he seemed to try for his friends, whenever they got together.

Eventually, Tristan and Serenity got married, and they went into designing games. Joey and Mai were entering tournaments left and right, every now and then letting the other win for a while. Duke and Crystal, his wife, lived off Dungeon Dice Monsters and distributing other games. Téa continued to be a star. Yugi slowly began to get over the loss of his grandpa. Trys was well-accustomed to her role as a Different Dimension Dragon stuck on this side of the gate between the two worlds.

Atem watched everyone's schedule, which always seemed to be tight. It took a while, but he finally found a time when they could all get together for the day and just hang out, walk around, and chat. He covered all the costs for lunch, snack, dinner, and any other meal they could think up, then called everyone out for a quiet Friday.

Everyone loved the excuse to just chat and relax, though it could hardly be called quiet. It was suddenly time for dinner.

Atem sat thinking about the day. Only Trys had really actually talked to him, and then, it was hardly with the others. After the introduction of new faces (Joey and Duke both had daughters now, and some hadn't met Crystal) and the greetings of old ones, they had hardly spoken to him.

It had been a long one, for him. His head bent slowly until he was staring at his lap, and his face was completely hidden. It was only when he began to shake that someone actually noticed, and then, it was Crystal.

"Um… Atem? You okay?"

He jerked at the sound of his name and swiftly turned away, out the window, trying to dry his tears out of sight. "I'm fine." He mumbled. _It was the only one who didn't know me before today._

Trys touched his leg and he looked back. Everyone quieted, seeing his eyes, which were slightly red, and his cheeks still glistened a little. "Come on, Atem, no you're not."

"Atem?"

"Hey, bud, what's up?"

"What, the fish too cooked for you?"

"What is it?"

His mouth twitched and he looked down, unconsciously hiding his face again. "It's nothing. It wouldn't matter, anyway." A long, expectant silence followed. Finally, Atem looked up once more, to find them all watching, waiting for him to explain. Yugi actually looked away from the window to listen.

And underneath it all, everyone was wishing he would get it over with, so they could get back to their chats.

His grimace was half-hidden by respect for his friends, but his voice was hinting at his injury. "I'm glad everyone was able to enjoy themselves. I'm glad we could do this… see everyone again… and just hang out, like we used to. But…" He winced. "It seems that's gone now. We're all moving on. We've all found new lives. No more room for the past." He looked out swiftly. "But don't let me ruin your mood."

They went right back to chatting, once again completely ignoring him.

Trys and Yugi stared at him, neither able to go back to what they were doing. It had become suddenly so clear to them what Atem had meant. He had brought them all together to see if he could resurrect the days of all that time ago, when Joey and Tristan would argue, when Téa would constantly wish for female friends and chat about friendship, when Yugi would be too timid to go ahead with what he was destined to do, when they used their bond to conquer every obstacle. That friendship that would last through anything but time.

Trys gave Yugi a meaningful look, and he yawned. "Well, guys, I'm headed home. That was fun." He got up and walked away, though he waited outside.

Group by group, the others left. Trys stayed back with Atem and filled out the check for him before getting him to his feet and guiding him outside.

He trembled in her arms, and every now and then, she caught a sob. Her own eyes dampened with tears, and they picked up Yugi as they left.

She took him to the beach, back where they had stood, and settled him down. He leaned against her, weeping. "Now… tell me… what's wrong?"

"I'm already alone." He mumbled, trying to dry his eyes, but failing as fresh waves appeared. "They live their lives without hardly more than a hello to me anymore. My life depended so many times on their friendship… and now they don't have any time at all left to even keep it going…"

She smiled. "Do you remember when we first met? I was sitting all alone on that bench, and you were coming to get a break from fighting for every breath down those alleys."

He looked up, confused. "I do… but why are you bringing that up?"

She laid his head in her lap and began stroking his hair. "I was all by myself. I hadn't a friend in the world. It was the same with Yugi, wasn't it? He was all alone, without friends. It was the moment you came into his life that he began to have the courage to go get friends. It was the moment you came into my life that suddenly everything was better."

He blinked.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now. It might not comfort you much, but maybe you were just for me and Yugi, and no one else. Maybe they were only here to help you on your first time around. Maybe, since you are going to be staying around for another five thousand years, and me too, they forget, because they were never really meant to stick around."

"What about Yugi?" He whispered.

"Well…" She murmured, looking up at him, then back at Atem. "He's sticking around too."

He blinked, then sat up, frowning. His gaze flicked from her, to Yugi, then down to his shadow. "You…" He couldn't finish, so he tried again. "You…" Finally, he just gave up and asked, "What are you, anyway?"

"The Silent Magician." Yugi grinned and sat down next to them. "C'mon, Atem, let's face the world together."


End file.
